Abstract:
The Time-of-Flight (TOF) detector is a critical component in large-scale nuclear and particle physics experiments. Many TOF-based experiments will be conducted at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL) and the High-Intensity Heavy-Ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF). The Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC), which measures precise time intervals, plays an essential role in TOF detectors. This paper presents the design and implementation of three different multi-measurement TDC architectures based on Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA): a multi-chain simultaneous measurement TDC, a multi-edge simultaneous measurement TDC, and a multi-cycle repetitive measurement TDC. The time resolution and precision of the three TDCs are compared, and their respective advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Experimental results demonstrate that all three TDCs exhibit excellent resolution and accuracy, with an average
bin width of 6 ps and a root mean square (RMS) time measurement accuracy better than 10 ps.