12-bit 5 GS/s

The 742 is the Switched Capacitor Digitizer family, based on the DRS4 chip by PSI, with the highest sampling frequency (5GS/s) and channel density. It can record very fast signals from scintillators coupled to PMTs, Silicon Photomultipliers, APD, Diamond detectors and others, and save them with high efficiency and precision for advanced timing analysis. The 742 family has an additional channel (two channels in case of VME boards) which can be used as time reference for time of fight measurements. The resolution of this kind of measurements can reach up to 50 ps.

The analog inputs are continuously sampled by the 1024 capacitive cells in the DRS4 chip at a frequency that is software selectable among 5 GS/s, 2.5 GS/s, 1 GS/s and 750 MS/s. Once the trigger condition is met, the capacitors are released, data is converted by a 12-bit ADC at a lower frequency and stored into a digital memory buffer. As the sampling and the analog-to-digital conversion are not simultaneous, a dead-time is introduced, during which the board cannot accept other triggers. Multiple boards can be synchronized to build up complex systems.

The acquisition is fully controlled by the WaveDump software, which manages the settings, plots and saves the waveforms. Libraries and demo software in C and LabView are available for integration and customization of specific acquisition systems.

742 family comes in three form factors: VME (32 input channels + 2 additional channels), NIM (16 input channels + 1 additional channel) and Desktop (16 input channels + 1 additional channel). The communication to and from the board is provided through the following interfaces: USB (Desktop and NIM form factors), VMEbus (VME form factor), and Optical Link (all form factors)