The real-time data processing and acquisition system for Project 8 Phase II

TL;DR

The paper presents a specialized real-time data acquisition system for Project 8 Phase II, capable of detecting and analyzing rapid, frequency-chirped signals from electrons in a neutrino mass experiment.

Contribution

It introduces a novel DAQ system optimized for real-time detection of chirped signals in a high-frequency neutrino experiment.

Findings

Successfully detected electron signals via cyclotron radiation

Enabled real-time selection of multiple frequency windows

Facilitated efficient data recording for neutrino mass measurements

Abstract

In Phase II of the Project 8 neutrino mass experiment, electrons from the decays of tritium or ${}^{83\mathrm{m}}$Kr are detected via their $\approx$26 GHz cyclotron radiation while contained within a circular waveguide. The signal from a given electron is characterized as a brief chirp, lasting $\lesssim$10 ms and changing in frequency by $\lesssim$1 MHz/ms. To detect these signals, the Project 8 collaboration developed a data acquisition (DAQ) system tailored to the signal properties. The DAQ is responsible for simultaneously selecting up to three 100 MHz-wide frequency windows to study, detect, and trigger on likely signals from different electron kinetic energies, and for writing the relevant data to disk. We describe the Phase II DAQ system in detail and address how the system was used for data-taking operations.