A charge preamplifier with a large dynamic range for the detection of ultra heavy nuclides in space experiments

A charge preamplifier with a large dynamic range and related readout system has been designed, constructed and tested. It is dedicated to the readout of silicon multistrip detectors for cosmic ray experiments in space. The charge dynamic range extends from fractions of minimum ionizing particles (MIPs) up to 16 000 MIPs covering all nuclides of the periodic chart of elements in the relativistic regime. The power consumption per channel is 48 mW and may be reduced to 26 mW by limiting the charge dynamic to 1–8000 MIPs. The noise, at room temperature, amounts to 1185 ENC electrons with a detector capacitance of 470 pF. The measured integral non-linearity in the full range 1–16 000 MIPs is less than 0.5%. Performance results with electrons from 90Sr, with alpha particles from 241Am and with cosmic ray ground muons are presented.