Drift chamber electronics for time and pulse height measurements with multiple hit capacity

Abstract

The electronic system developed for the read-out of jet chambers (JADE-collaboration, PETRA) is described. The system is able to process up to 8 hits per signal wire with a double pulse resolution of ∼ 100 ns. For each hit, the drift time and the integrated signals from both ends of the wire are recorded. The time measurement is performed using a MECL RAM technique, while the charge measurement is performed using gated integrators, fast analog memories and a 12-bit multiplexer-ADC system (one per 8 wires). Two-dimensional track coordinates and the energy loss of the particles passing the detector can be obtained.