Development of a charge pump for sensor biasing in a Serial Powering scheme for the ATLAS pixel detector upgrade

CMOS monolithic pixel detector technology is one of the options considered for the outer layer of an upgraded ATLAS pixel detector in 2026. In this upgrade pixel detector modules will be powered in series by a constant current source to reduce power losses and material budget. On-chip shunt regulators generate the local 1.8 V supply voltage from the input current to provide power to the integrated circuits. The sensor bias for monolithic sensors is often limited and not sufficiently large to allow a common bias for all sensors in the serial powering chain. In this paper, we give an introduction to the serial powering strategy for CMOS detectors with emphasis on the design and simulation results of a regulated charge pump circuit for sensor biasing. Two prototypes operating with a pumping frequency of 640 MHz, one with 6-stages and one with 19-stages, were designed and fabricated in a modified TowerJazz 0.18 μm CMOS imaging technology to provide negative bias down to − 6 V and − 20 V, respectively. Simulation results demonstrate good performance of the charge pump circuit which could be used to bias the CMOS sensor.