The DOE Office of Nuclear Physics (NP) seeks new developments in detector electronics with significantly improved energy, position, timing resolution, sensitivity, rate capability, stability, dynamic range, and background suppression. Of particular interest are innovative readout electronics for use with the nuclear physics detectors described in Topic C55-24 (Nuclear Instrumentation, Detection Systems and Techniques). An important criterion is the cost per channel of electronic devices and modules. Nuclear physics detectors range in complexity, from those that fill a modest-sized laboratory to those that fill a multistory building. While most detectors may operate at or near room temperature, those used in rare decay experiments like neutrinoless double beta decay operate at cryogenic temperatures, below 20 mK for some experiments. This underscores that, in general, nuclear physics electronics operate in extreme environments, whether at extreme cryogenic temperatures or where radiation levels are high. All applications must explicitly show relevance to the NP program. Applications must be informed by the state of the art in nuclear physics applications, commercially available products and emerging technologies. An application based on incremental improvements or little innovation will be considered non-responsive unless context is supplied that convincingly shows its potential for significant impact or value to the DOE nuclear physics program. Applications which are largely duplicative of previously funded research by the NP will be considered nonresponsive to this topic. Applicants are strongly encouraged to review recent SBIR/STTR awards from the NP to avoid duplication. Those awards can be found at https://science.osti.gov/sbir/awards/ (Release 1, DOE Funding Program: Nuclear Physics). The subtopics below refer to innovations that will advance our nation's capability to perform nuclear physics research, and more specifically to improve scientific productivity at NP facilities and the wider NP community's programs. Applicants may wish to gather information from and collaborate with experts at DOE National Laboratories to establish feasibility for their innovations. DOE expects all applicants to address commercialization opportunities for their product or service in adjacent markets such as medicine, homeland security, the environment and industry. Applications that propose using the resources of a third party (such as a DOE laboratory) must include in the application, a letter of certification from an authorized official of that organization. Applications are sought only in the following subtopics: a. Advances in Digital Processing Electronics Digital signal processing electronics are needed, following low noise amplification and anti-aliasing filtering, in nuclear physics applications. Applications are sought to: 1. develop high speed digital processing electronics that, relative to current state of the art, improve the effective number of bits to 16 at sampling rates of > 4GHz and a bandwidth > 2 GHz, with minimal integral non-linearity, and minimal, or at least repeatable differential non-linearity. Such devices should have 64 channels with fast timing (< 10 ps). If deployed where radiation levels are high, then they must be rad-hard (tolerate 10 Mrad with 1015 n/cm2). 2. Develop high channel density (>=256 channels/board) digital data acquisition system with >= 100 MSPS, >=12 bit ADC information per channel Emphasis should be on low power dissipation and low cost per channel. Applications must clearly indicate how Phase I research and development will result in a working prototype or method that will be completed by the end of Phase II. The prototype or method must be suitable for testing in a nuclear physics application and/or at a nuclear physics accelerator facility. Applications not meeting this requirement will be considered nonresponsive and will not undergo merit review. Questions Contact: Michelle Shinn, Michelle.Shinn@science.doe.gov or the NP SBIR/STTR Topic Associate(s) for Electronics and Circuits: Manouchehr Farkhondeh, Manouchehr.Farkhondeh@science.doe.gov. b. Front-End Application-Specific Integrated Circuits Applications are sought to develop front-end application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for amplifying and processing data from highly-segmented solid-state and gas detectors in pixels, strips or drift configurations, including silicon photomultipliers (SiPM), multi-channel plate photomultipliers (MCP-PMTs), large area picosecond photodetectors (LAPPD) and germanium detectors. Microelectronics of specific interest include: 1. (1) Very low power, and/or very low noise charge amplifiers and filters, very high rate photoncounting circuits, high-precision charge and timing measurement circuits, low-power and small-area ADCs and TDCs, efficient sparsifying and multiplexing circuits. Native control and readout using fiber w/WDM so multiple ASICs can be serviced by one fiber is desired. The proposed hardware must clearly advance in the state-of-the-art; 2. (2) Two-dimensional high-channel-count circuits for small pixels combined with high-density, highyield, and low-capacitance interconnection techniques. Layering these 2D ASICS via interconnects to increase functionality is also of interest; 3. (3) Microelectronics for extreme environments such as high-radiation (both neutron and ionizing) and low temperature, depending on the application. Specifications for the former are: high channel count (64 channels) ASIC with fast timing (< 10 ps), high radiation hardness (10 Mrad with 1015 n/cm2), fast waveform sampling (> 4GHz) and bandwidth (> 2GHz); and 4. (4) Very-large-scale systems-on-chip or experiments-on-chip characterized by high functionality, high programmability, DSP capabilities, high data rate interface. Relative to the state of the art these circuits should be low-cost, user friendly, and capable of communicating with commercial auxiliary electronics. Applications must clearly indicate how Phase I research and development will result in a working prototype or method that will be completed by the end of Phase II. The prototype or method must be suitable for testing in a nuclear physics application and/or at a nuclear physics accelerator facility. Applications not meeting this requirement will be considered nonresponsive and will not undergo merit review. Questions Contact: Michelle Shinn, Michelle.Shinn@science.doe.gov or the NP SBIR/STTR Topic Associate(s) for Electronics and Circuits: Manouchehr Farkhondeh, Manouchehr.Farkhondeh@science.doe.gov. c. Next Generation Pixel Sensors The Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) plans to operate at luminosities in the range 1033 1034 cm-2 s-1 and will require radiation hard tracking devices placed at radii less than 10 cm from the beam axis. Upgrades to detectors at other NP facilities would benefit as well. Therefore, alternatives to the present generation high density Active Pixel Sensors will be required. Applications are also sought for: 1. the next generation of active pixel sensors. Options may include integrated CMOS detectors which combine initial signal processing and data sparsification on a high-resistivity silicon, superconducting large area pixel detectors, and novel 2.5D- and 3D-pixel materials and geometric structures. Applications must clearly indicate how Phase I research and development will result in a working prototype or method that will be completed by the end of Phase II. The prototype or method must be suitable for testing in a nuclear physics application and/or at a nuclear physics accelerator facility. Applications not meeting this requirement will be considered nonresponsive and will not undergo merit review. Questions Contact: Michelle Shinn, Michelle.Shinn@science.doe.gov or the NP SBIR/STTR Topic Associate(s) for Electronics and Circuits: Manouchehr Farkhondeh, Manouchehr.Farkhondeh@science.doe.gov. d. Other In addition to the specific subtopics listed above, the Department invites applications in other areas that fall within the scope of the topic description above. Questions Contact: Michelle Shinn, Michelle.Shinn@science.doe.gov or the NP SBIR/STTR Topic Associate(s) for Electronics and Circuits: Manouchehr Farkhondeh, Manouchehr.Farkhondeh@science.doe.gov.
