Design of a test platform for screening procedures of VA160 and VATA160 ASICs in DAMPE mission

The Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is a scientific satellite designed to search for the clue of dark matter particles for a mission period of at least 3 years. Two types of readout ASICs, named VA160 and VATA160, are adopted for the front-end electronics (FEE) to meet the design specification. Total lot screening of VA160 and VATA160 is utilized to assist in achieving levels of quality and reliability commensurate with the aerospace application. A test platform has been designed and built to provide comprehensive electric parameters acquisition during screening process of VA160 and VATA160. The system consists of a master board, a DUT board, a host PC, a DC supply power and necessary cables. The tester measures supply current, gets dynamic range and linearity of charge measurement, checks the 165-bit configuration register and verifies trigger signal output. With the test platform, the task of five rounds of electric test of over 200 chips has been finished in time, which ensured the progress of the qualification model of DAMPE mission.