Development of a 256-channel Time-of-flight Electronics System For Neutron Beam Profiling

TL;DR

This paper presents the design, implementation, and testing of a 256-channel time-of-flight electronics system for neutron beam profiling at CSNS, demonstrating high-resolution timing and effective data acquisition.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel 256-channel TOF electronics system with synchronized TDC boards and high timing resolution for neutron beam profiling.

Findings

Achieved a timing resolution of 3.5 ns with the TDC boards.

Successfully tested and deployed the system at CSNS.

Demonstrated reliable data transfer and synchronization across 256 channels.

Abstract

A 256-channel time-of-flight (TOF) electronics system has been developed for a beam line facility called "Back-n WNS" in China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS). This paper shows the structure and performance of electronics system and the test results in CSNS. A 256-channel photomultiplier tube (PMT) is chosen as the detector in this system. In order to acquire the time information from the PMT, an electronics system has been designed. The electronics system mainly includes one front-end board (FEB), four time-to-digital converter (TDC) boards and one clock distribution module (CDM). There are 256 channels on FEB and 64 channels on each TDC board. The FEB is connected to the PMT with high-density connectors and the TDC boards are connected to the FEB through 2m cables. The TDC boards are 6U size so that they can be PCI extensions for Instrumentation (PXI) cards. Data from TDC boards can be transferred to the PXI control card through the backboard. In order to make four TDC boards work synchronously, a CDM outputs four clock signals to TDC boards which are distributed from one clock source. The TDC boards achieve a timing resolution of 3.5ns by test with a signal generator. The TOF measurement system has been used in CSNS.