Wide dynamic range acquisition system for innovative radiation detectors

There is particular interest to develop low-noise and wide dynamic range data acquisition systems for silicon detectors in view of using the same acquisition readout electronics for a wide range of application fields like monitoring and characterization of radiation sources or particle beams. In the framework of a research project for the qualification of Components Off The Shelf (COTS) for their use in space, research groups from INFN-Perugia, INFN-LNS and from MAPRAD have developed a fully automated, remote controllable, wide dynamic range acquisition system for silicon strip or pixelated detectors. Its design and a basic description of the performance are given here.