Stand-alone Low Power Consumption FEE and DAQ for the Readout of Silicon Photomultipliers

We developed a front end electronics (FEE) and data acquisition (DAQ) system with a low power consumption, especially intended for stand-alone applications in unattended environments without standard electricity supply. The system works autonomously thanks to dedicated algorithms that are embedded. The FEE is based on the EASIROC chip, designed for the readout of Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). It digitizes the amplitude of the signals and provides time information with time of flight capability. The trigger logic is programmable and physical and accidental coincidences rates can be measured. The SiPMs temperature is controlled by thermoelectric cells. Thanks to a network of temperature and humidity sensors, a real-time software sets the optimal operating point of the SiPMs depending on external conditions and if necessary halts the system to avoid damage to the electronics. The system has been used in several muon radiography experiments.