Fabrication of the GLAST Silicon Tracker Readout Electronics

• Published in: IEEE transactions on nuclear science Vol. 53; no. 5; pp. 3013 - 3020
• Main Authors: Baldini, L., Brez, A., Himel, T., Johnson, R.P., Latronico, L., Minuti, M., Nelson, D., Sadrozinski, H.F.-W., Sgro', C., Spandre, G., Sugizaki, M., Tajima, H., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Young, C., Ziegler, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-10-2006; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Application specific integrated circuits; Arrays; astronomical satellites; cables; Design engineering; Electronic equipment testing; Electronic systems; Electronics; Fabrication; Gamma ray detection; Gamma ray detectors; Modules; multichip modules; Poles and towers; Readout electronics; Silicon; Space missions; Space telescopes; System testing; Telescopes; Towers
• ISSN: 0018-9499; 1558-1578
• DOI: 10.1109/TNS.2006.881061

A unique electronics system has been built and tested for reading signals from the silicon-strip detectors of the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope mission. The system amplifies and processes signals from 884 736 36-cm long silicon strips in a 4times4 array of tower modules. An aggressive mechanical design fits the readout electronics in narrow spaces between the tower modules, to minimize dead area. This design and the resulting departures from conventional electronics packaging led to several fabrication challenges and lessons learned. This paper describes the fabrication processes and how the problems peculiar to this design were overcome