Study of electronic functions in ASIC technology for space instruments dedicated to space plasmas physics studies
The solar corona is the origin of the solar wind (plasma), which interacts with various objects in the solar system : planets, comets and asteroids. The development of instruments to be embedded on board satellites and space probes allows to study, in situ, the earth and sun relationships and more generally the solar wind and planetary ionized environments. The study of these phenomena requires a combination of instruments to characterize both waves and particles. We are interested in the integration, in a standard technology CMOS 0.35 m, of space instruments electronic, especially the analogue amplification chain of induction magnetometers and the amplification / discrimination chain of particle detectors. Studied circuits, respectively associated to the induction magnetometer and to the particle detector, allow low-noise amplification in a low frequency range and high detection sensitivity over a wide charge range. These circuits must also satisfy the requirements in terms of space consumption, resistance to temperature and radiation. The thesis focuses on the presentation of the earth ionized environment, the presentation of scientific instruments (magnetometer and space particle detector), the description of the designs of CMOS circuits to achieve unprecedented performances. Important work on amplification structures was carried out in order to significantly reduce consumption and increase the sensitivity of the processing electronic chain for the particle detector. Thus, the feasibility of an integrated multichannel electronic for the particle analyser using a hemispherical electrostatic optical and containing up to 256 pixels, has been proven. Reducing the low frequency noise level in circuits based on MOS devices has always been a tedious task, since this type of components is the basis, not intended for such a range frequency. It was therefore necessary to design original amplification structures by the not usual size of their input transistors. This solution has significantly reduced the input equivalent noise of magnetometers amplification electronic. The advantage of using CMOS technology is the low current noise, the low power consumption and the overcrowding problem resolving. Obtained results in validation and radiation tests are very satisfactory. They can open the way for a possible integrated electronic in space instrumentation. Including the performance obtained when firing a rocket strengthened the reliability of such concepts for space science.