Design of a Time-to-Digital Converter ASIC and a mini-DAQ system for the Phase-2 Upgrade of the ATLAS Monitored Drift Tube detector

TL;DR

This paper details the development and testing of a new time-to-digital converter ASIC and mini-DAQ system for the ATLAS detector upgrade, emphasizing improved redundancy, minimal power increase, and reliable cosmic ray testing.

Contribution

The paper introduces a second-generation TDC ASIC with enhanced redundancy and a compatible mini-DAQ system, advancing the detector upgrade technology for high-luminosity collider experiments.

Findings

Triple modular redundancy improves reliability.

Power consumption increased by less than 10 mW.

Cosmic ray tests confirm effective performance.

Abstract

We present the second prototype of a time-to-digital (TDC) ASIC for the upgrade of the ATLAS Monitored Drift Tube (MDT) detector for High-Luminosity LHC operations. Compared to the first prototype, triple modular redundancy has been implemented for the configuration and flow control logic. The total power consumption is increased by less than 10 mW while achieving the same time resolution and channel uniformity. A mini-DAQ system has been built to verify the front-end electronics chain with the new prototype together with other ASICs and boards in triggered mode. Cosmic ray tests with a small-diameter MDT chamber indicate that the configuration and data transmission of the readout electronics perform well. It is expected that this prototype design will be used in the final production.