A 0.18μm CMOS low-power radiation sensor for UWB wireless transmission

The paper describes the design of a floating gate MOS sensor embedded in a readout CMOS element, used as a radiation monitor. A maximum sensitivity of 1 mV/rad is estimated within an absorbed dose range from 1 to 10 krad. The paper shows in particular the design of a microelectronic circuit that includes the floating gate sensor, an oscillator, a modulator, a transmitter and an integrated antenna. A prototype of the circuit has recently been simulated, fabricated and tested exploiting a commercial 180 nm, 4 metal CMOS technology. Some simulation results are presented along with a measurement of the readout circuit response to an input voltage swing. Given the small estimated area of the complete chip prototype, that is less than 1 mm², the chip fits a large variety of applications, from spot radiation monitoring systems in medicine to punctual measurements or radiation level in High-Energy Physics experiments.