An electronic device that suits space research requirements for ion detection

An electronics system for low-energy cosmic ion detection has been designed and built. This instrument was designed to he shipped onboard a satellite with a mission to detect solar energetic particles (SEP) and to study the anomalous component of cosmic rays. The electronics of the instrument were verified by four functional tests. In the first of these tests, its response to well-known electronic pulses, analogous to those produced in the detectors, was checked. During the second test, the coincidence-anticoincidence performances have been verified. The third test consisted of the calibration of each detector and its corresponding electronics chain with alpha particles from a /sup 241/Am source. All these preliminary tests were carried out in an Alcala University laboratory. The final test was done with nuclear reaction fragments at the VICKSI (Van de Graaff Isochron Cyctotron Kombination fur Schwere Ionen) heavy ion accelerator facility of the Hahn Meitner Institute in Berlin. The trails proved to be successful, with satisfactory results when compared with those achieved by standard nuclear instrumentation.