The ToF and Trigger electronics of the PAMELA experiment

The PAMELA satellite-borne experiment, scheduled to be launched in 2004, is designed to provide a better understanding of the antimatter component of the cosmic rays. Its ToF scintillator system will provide the primary experimental trigger and time-of-flight particle identification. The time resolution requested is σt < 120 ps. To fulfill the detector requirements the digitization electronics should have a time resolution &les;50 ps and provide a wide dynamic range for charge measurements. The peculiarity of the developed electronics arises from the need to obtain such a time resolution operating in a satellite environment, which implies low-power consumption, radiation hardness, redundancy and high reliability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]