Performance of a DEPFET pixel system for particle detection

Abstract Driven by the requirements of the ILC ( International Linear Collider) vertex detector, a prototype system based on DEPFET pixels has been developed. The system utilizes a 64 × 128 pixel matrix with 28.5 × 36 μ m 2 pixels, operated by dedicated chips for fast steering and readout. This paper will report on results for X-ray detection in the energy range between 6 and 40 keV. In addition, the system has been operated in a test beam and first results using the 6 GeV electron beam at the DESYsynchrotron will be presented. The observed noise performance of the system will be compared with calculations. It will be shown that a noise figureof below ENC = 100 e - is achievable with DEPFET pixels for the ILC application leading to a signal-to-noise ratio of S / N > 40 for sensors as thin as 50 μ m .