How to Lighten Experimentalists' Life with Electronics Development of Front-End Readout for the CALIFA Detector

Abstract

Research in subatomic physics covers areas ranging from the investigation of the structure of and the interactions in atomic nuclei, to developing new materials and new medical treatments. Experiments in this field often rely on high sampling rates, good time resolution and fast processing of big quantities of data. This thesis describes work done in developing parts of the CALIFA particle detector, to be located at the GSI/FAIR-facility, Darmstadt. Several topics are covered: the design of readout procedures for a switched capacitor array (DRS4), as well as data trace compression algorithms and their implementations in FPGAs. A new clock delivery system for detectors was investigated and LaBr3-LaCl3 crystals were characterizated. The work was carried out in collaboration with the Physics Department at the Technical University of Munich and the Subatomic and Plasma Physics Division at Chalmers.