An automated system to control the polarization voltage of silicon detectors

A remote controlled system to maintain polarization voltage across a silicon detector within a user defined window is described. The system regulates silicon bias voltage, caused by increased leakage current due to radiation damage, by switching external resistors to maintain a constant voltage drop across the bias load resistor, independent of leakage current. This Z80 microprocessor based system links with the host computer by a RS-232 serial port. The voltage resolution of the system is less than 0.2 V in the worst case