A direct-sampling RF receiver for MOLLER beam charge measurement

TL;DR

This paper presents a direct-sampling RF receiver designed for precise, rapid measurement of beam charge signals at 1497 MHz, meeting the stringent accuracy and timing requirements of the MOLLER experiment at Jefferson Laboratory.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel RF receiver capable of high-precision, fast amplitude measurements for beam current monitoring in a high-energy physics experiment.

Findings

Achieved <10 ppm measurement uncertainty

Operates effectively within 0.5 ms integration windows

Successfully tested in a real beamline environment

Abstract

We have developed and tested a direct-sampling RF receiver capable of measuring the amplitude of a 1497 MHz sinusoidal signal in 0.5 ms integration windows to within <10 ppm relative uncertainty. The receiver is intended for measuring signals from beam current monitoring cavities on the beamline of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Jefferson Laboratory. The signal strength, frequency, and integration window are consistent with the thus far unmet requirements of the upcoming MOLLER experiment to measure the beam charge for different helicity states.