Charge collection properties of TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS Pixel Sensors in dependence of pixel geometries and bias parameters, studied using a dedicated test-vehicle: The Investigator chip

This paper contains a compilation of parameters influencing the charge collection process extracted from a comprehensive study of partially depleted Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors with small (<25µm2) collection electrodes fabricated in the TowerJazz 180nm CMOS process. These results gave guidance for the optimization of the diode implemented in ALPIDE, the chip used in the second generation Inner Tracking System of ALICE, and serve as reference for future simulation studies of similar devices. The studied parameters include: reverse substrate bias, epitaxial layer thickness, charge collection electrode size and the spacing of the electrode to surrounding in-pixel electronics. The results from pixels of 28µm pitch confirm that even in partially depleted circuits, charge collection can be fast (<10ns), and quantify the influence of the parameters onto the signal sharing and amplitudes, highlighting the importance of a correct spacing between wells and of the impact of the reverse substrate bias.