Design and prototyping of the readout electronics for the transition radiation detector in the High Energy Cosmic Radiation Detection facility

The High Energy Cosmic-Radiation Detection (HERD) facility is planned to launch in 2027 and scheduled to be installed on the China Space Station. It serves as a dark matter particle detector, a cosmic ray instrument, and an observatory for high-energy gamma rays. A transition radiation detector placed on one of its lateral sides serves dual purpose, (i) calibrating HERD’s electromagnetic calorimeter in the TeV energy range, and (ii) serving as an independent detector for high-energy gamma rays. In this paper, the prototype readout electronics design of the transition radiation detector is demonstrated, which aims to accurately measure the charge of the anodes using the SAMPA application specific integrated circuit chip. The electronic performance of the prototype system is evaluated in terms of noise, linearity, and resolution. Through the presented design, each electronic channel can achieve a dynamic range of 0-100 fC, the RMS noise level not exceeding 0.15 fC, and the integral nonlinearity was less than 0.2%. To further verify the readout electronic performance, a joint test with the detector was carried out, and the results show that the prototype system can satisfy the requirements of the detector’s scientific goals.