​​​​​​​Objectives: New developments for future calorimetric detectors

Description: Development of this type of novel detectors both in their mechanical aspects and in the development of cutting-edge electronics capable of providing the required time precisions.

State of achievement as of today:
The activities carried out during this period have been performed in line with our participation in the international CERN DRD (Detector R&D) collaborations that began in the year 2024. Specifically, we contribute to the DRD1 (“Timing measurement electronics for gaseous detectors”), DRD6 (“High-granularity calorimetry”) and DRD7 (DRD 7.3 “Precise timing synchronization and high-resolution measurements” and DRD 7.5 “Intelligent algorithms in FPGAs”) collaborations.

The progress achieved can be summarized in the following aspects:

• Generalization of a versatile and detector-agnostic readout system: Progress has been made in the construction of a versatile readout electronics system that can be used in detectors of diverse technology, radiation-tolerant and that allows the processing of a high bandwidth. As of today, a complete readout chain is available and, in fact, it has been used in various experiments and expressions of interest have been received for its use in other new detectors. Therefore, it is planned to manufacture a certain number of systems for their installation in various laboratories and to build validation chains with these new detectors, for which various electronic components and high-voltage power supplies have been acquired.

• Validation of a precise timing distribution chain and improvement in high-resolution measurements: Progress has been made in the validation of various firmwares for radiation-tolerant programmable logic devices (FPGAs) that allow the transmission of precise synchronization signals with resolutions of ~2 ps in order to perform precise time measurements. Likewise, a firmware has been developed in this type of FPGAs for the precise time digitization of detector signals that allows the measurement of hundreds of channels with resolutions of ~40 ps. This development is expected to be of high interest both for gaseous and calorimetric detectors in areas of moderate radiation.

• Development of intelligent data acquisition systems: Progress has been made in the design of data acquisition architectures that allow the implementation of complex selection and reconstruction algorithms in real time and with minimal latencies (tens of nanoseconds). These systems will allow data acquisition at bandwidths much higher than the current generation of experiments and, due to the inclusion of advanced logic devices, a large part of the reconstruction, selection and event identification intelligence can be transferred to the detector level and in real time. A limiting aspect in these systems is complying with the latency constraints in signal propagation within these devices, and various optimization codes have been developed that allow improving any commercial system. Various pieces of equipment have been acquired that will allow building an advanced data acquisition system and implementing various demonstrators.