A DIGITAL READOUT SYSTEM FOR THE SYRMEP SILICON STRIP DETECTORS

The SYRMEP project (SYnchrotron Radiation for MEdical Physics) intends to improve mammography performances using two non-traditional means: synchrotron radiation and silicon detectors. A silicon crystal (the mo nochromator) allows to choose the optimal beam energy that leads to th e maximum signal to noise ratio, while the detectors are arranged to f orm a matrix of pixels and coupled to low noise high-gain VLSI integra ted circuits making the single photon counting technique possible. We present the data acquisition system implemented to read out the VLSI c ircuit with particular emphasis on two dedicated CAMAC modules that ge nerate the control signals and store the chip digital output on memori es that can be accessed via the CAMAC bus. It has been useful in testi ng the chip performances and can be considered a prototype of the fina l SYRMEP data acquisition system.