6533b82bfe1ef96bd128e030
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Timing in a FLASH
M. HoekM. CardinaliO. CorellM. DickescheidM.i. Ferretti B.W. LauthB.s. SchlimmeC. SfientiM. Thielsubject
PhysicsNuclear and High Energy Physics010308 nuclear & particles physicsbusiness.industryDetector01 natural sciencesSignal030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging03 medical and health sciencesFlash (photography)0302 clinical medicineData acquisitionOpticsHodoscope0103 physical sciencesbusinessField-programmable gate arrayInstrumentationMicrotronBeam (structure)description
Abstract A prototype detector, called FLASH (Fast Light Acquiring Start Hodoscope), was built to provide precise Time-of-Flight (TOF) measurements and reference timestamps for detector setups at external beam lines. Radiator bars, made of synthetic fused silica, were coupled to a fast MCP-PMT with 64 channels and read out with custom electronics using Time-over-Threshold (TOT) for signal characterization. The TRB3 system, a high-precision TDC implemented in an FPGA, was used as data acquisition system. The performance of a system consisting of two FLASH units was investigated at a dedicated test experiment at the Mainz Microtron (MAMI) accelerator using its 855 MeV electron beam. The TOT measurement enabled time walk corrections and an overall TOF resolution of ∼70 ps could be achieved which translates into a resolution of ∼50 ps per FLASH unit. The intrinsic resolution of the frontend electronics including the TDC was measured to be less than 25 ps.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-12-01 | Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment |