2.4ps rms precision time-to-amplitude converter for high-performance time correlated single photon measurements

The measurement of the time of arrival of single photons with picoseconds precision has been subject to a growing interest in recent years. In this field, conversion electronics with ultimate precision becomes of the utmost importance not only for demanding applications but even for most advanced sensors characterization. We present the first fully-integrated Time-to-Amplitude Converter providing a state-of-art precision better than 6ps Full Width at Half Maximum (2.4ps rms) on a 12.5ns Full Scale Range. The TAC structure has been proven effective to combine picosecond precision with high linearity, i.e. lower than 1% rms. The single channel can achieve a conversion rate of several MHz and thanks to a low power dissipation and area occupation, it is also suitable to be the building block of a multichannel structure.