Development of 500 MHz multi-channel readout electronics for fast radiation detectors

We describe the development of readout electronics for fast radiation detectors that digitize signals at a rate of 500 MHz, process the digital data stream to measure pulse heights, bin the result in on-board MCA spectra, and optionally capture waveforms for pulse shape analysis. The electronics are targeted for applications requiring good energy resolution and precise timing, for example life time measurements on exotic nuclei, timing measurements with fast scintillators such as LaBr₃ or BaF₂, or pulse shape analysis with liquid scintillators or phoswich detectors. Upgrading the existing XIA Pixie-4 spectrometer design with a 12-bit, 500 MHz analog to digital converter, we built a prototype of a 4-channel electronics module and evaluated its performance in terms of energy resolution, timing resolution, and improvements in pulse shape analysis.