  In this paper the PreAmplifier ShAper (PASA) for the Time Projection Chamber
(TPC) of the ALICE experiment at LHC is presented. The ALICE TPC PASA is an
ASIC that integrates 16 identical channels, each consisting of Charge Sensitive
Amplifiers (CSA) followed by a Pole-Zero network, self-adaptive bias network,
two second-order bridged-T filters, two non-inverting level shifters and a
start-up circuit. The circuit is optimized for a detector capacitance of 18-25
pF. For an input capacitance of 25 pF, the PASA features a conversion gain of
12.74 mV/fC, a peaking time of 160 ns, a FWHM of 190 ns, a power consumption of
11.65 mW/ch and an equivalent noise charge of 244e + 17e/pF. The circuit
recovers smoothly to the baseline in about 600 ns. An integral non-linearity of
0.19% with an output swing of about 2.1 V is also achieved. The total area of
the chip is 18 mm$^2$ and is implemented in AMS's C35B3C1 0.35 micron CMOS
technology. Detailed characterization test were performed on about 48000 PASA
circuits before mounting them on the ALICE TPC front-end cards. After more than
two years of operation of the ALICE TPC with p-p and Pb-Pb collisions, the PASA
has demonstrated to fulfill all requirements.
