Shaping circuit for improving linearity, bandwidth, and dynamic range in ToT-based detectors

TL;DR

This paper introduces a shaper circuit designed to enhance the linearity, bandwidth, and dynamic range of Time-over-Threshold (ToT) detectors, addressing their traditional limitations for high-energy physics applications.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel shaper circuit that significantly improves ToT detector performance without compromising simplicity or power efficiency.

Findings

Enhanced linearity and dynamic range demonstrated in simulations and implementation.

Improved bandwidth and measurement accuracy in the detector readout system.

Successful integration with the RICH detector at FAIR.

Abstract

The quantitative measurement of energy deposits in particle detectors, particularly in calorimeters, is usually accomplished with the help of Analog-to-Digital converters (ADCs) due to their precision, wide measurement range, and good linearity. However, drawbacks such as power consumption, data volume, and bandwidth limit their use in the next generation of high-energy physics experiments. Time-over-threshold (ToT) systems offer simplicity, low power consumption, easy integrability, and wide bandwidth, but they lack precision, linearity, and dynamic range. In this work, we propose a shaper circuit that improves the weaknesses of ToT systems without sacrificing performance. We simulated and implemented the concept in the readout system of the Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector of the Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment at FAIR.