Effective Dynamic Range in Measurements with Flash Analog-to-Digital Convertor

TL;DR

This paper presents a method to extend the effective dynamic range of 8-bit flash ADCs by at least four bits, improving energy reconstruction and event identification in nuclear physics experiments.

Contribution

A novel algorithm that compares integrated pulse areas with reference profiles to enhance FADC dynamic range, applicable across various detector systems.

Findings

Extended dynamic range by at least 4 bits

Improved energy reconstruction accuracy

Effective event identification in saturated signals

Abstract

Flash Analog to Digital Convertor (FADC) is frequently used in nuclear and particle physics experiments, often as the major component in big multi-channel systems. The large data volume makes the optimization of operating parameters necessary. This article reports a study of a method to extend the dynamic range of an 8-bit FADC from the nominal $\rm{2^8}$ value. By comparing the integrated pulse area with that of a reference profile, good energy reconstruction and event identification can be achieved on saturated events from CsI(Tl) crystal scintillators. The effective dynamic range can be extended by at least 4 more bits. The algorithm is generic and is expected to be applicable to other detector systems with FADC readout.