Development of front-end electronics with large dynamic range for space applications

A new low-noise, low-power, front-end chip with a dynamic range larger than 10 4 was designed for operation on space-based or balloon-borne experiments. Its performance were optimized with negative polarity signals for the readout of Multi-Anode Photomultipliers (MAPMT). A suitable set of operation parameters were also determined for the readout of Hybrid Photo Diodes (positive polarity). The chip performances were tested for both polarities with two different test boards implementing 16-bit digitization. Test results are reported.