Fast PC-based data acquisition system for gas-filled position sensitive detectors

The high flux of the new generation of synchrotron radiation sources requires fast position sensitive detectors with high count rate data acquisition systems capability. Though the local count rate in a gas-filled position-sensitive detector is limited by the space charge effect, the integral rate will increase with the area of the detector. Thus, more than several 106 events per second can be achieved. Therefore, we developed a new PC-based histogramming and control interface (HCl) with an intrinsic dead time lower than 200 ns for linear and area X-ray detectors for time-resolved measurement applications. An overview of the complete acquisition system including a fast time-to-digital converter and image processing software will be given. The design principles and operating characteristics including experimental results obtained with a 100 mm linear delay-line detector at the SAXS beamline 5.2 in Elettra (Trieste) will be presented.