AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE THAT SUITS SPACE RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS FOR ION DETECTION

An electronics system for low-energy cosmic ion detection has been des igned and built, This instrument tvas designed to be shipped onboard a satellite with a mission to detect salar energetic particles (SEP) an d 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 purses, analogous to those produced in the detectors, was checked, During the second tes t, the coincidence-anticoincidence performances have been verified, Th e third test consisted of the calibration of each detector and its cor responding electronics chain with alpha particles from a Am-241 source , All these preliminary tests were carried out in an Alcala University laboratory, The final test was done with nuclear reaction fragments a t the VICKSI (Van de Graaff Isochron Cyclotron Kombination fur Schwere Ionen) heavy ion accelerator facility of the Hahn Meitner Institute i n Berlin, The trails proved to be successful, with satisfactory result s when compared with those achieved by standard nuclear instrumentatio n.