Design of a high dynamic range photomultiplier base board for the BGO ECAL of DAMPE

A base board for photomultiplier tube (PMT) with multi-dynode readout has been developed for the BGO electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) of the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE). In order to cover a high dynamic range of energy measurements, the signals are read out from different sensitive dynodes 2, 5, and 8 (Dy2, Dy5 and Dy8). The performance of this new type of base board is studied with a light-emitting diode (LED) system and cosmic rays. A wide measuring range from 0.5 to 1.0×105 MIPs can be achieved using the VA32 readout Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).