A flexible data acquisition system architecture for the Nab experiment

D. G. Mathews; H. Acharya; C. B. Crawford; M. H. Gervais; A. P. Jezghani; M. McCrea; A. Nelsen; A. Atencio; N. Birge; L. J. Broussard; J. H. Choi; F. M. Gonzalez; H. Li; N. Macsai; A. Mendelsohn; R. R. Mammei; G. V. Riley; R. A. Whitehead

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2024.170079

A flexible data acquisition system architecture for the Nab experiment

D. G. Mathews, H. Acharya, C. B. Crawford, M. H. Gervais, A. P. Jezghani, M. McCrea, A. Nelsen, A. Atencio, N. Birge, L. J. Broussard, J. H. Choi, F. M. Gonzalez, H. Li, N. Macsai, A. Mendelsohn, R. R. Mammei, G. V. Riley, R. A. Whitehead

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The Nab experiment will measure the electron–neutrino correlation and Fierz interference term in free neutron beta decay to test the Standard Model and probe Beyond the Standard Model physics. Using National Instrument's PXIe-5171 Reconfigurable Oscilloscope module, we have developed a data acquisition system that is not only capable of meeting Nab's specifications, but flexible enough to be adapted in situ as the experimental environment dictates. The L1 and L2 trigger logic can be reconfigured to optimize the system for coincidence event detection at runtime through configuration files and LabVIEW controls. This system is capable of identifying L1 triggers at a rate of at least 1 MHz, while reading out a peak signal rate of approximately 2 GB/s. During the commissioning phase of the experiment, the system ran at a sustained readout rate of 400 MB/s of detector signal data originating from roughly 6 kHz L2 triggers, well within the peak performance of the system.

Original language	English
Article number	170079
Journal	Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Volume	1071
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2024.170079
State	Published - Feb 2025

Funding

This work was supported through the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics [contracts DE-SC0014622 , DE-FG02-97ER41042 , DE-AC05-00OR22725 ] and National Science Foundation (NSF) [contracts PHY-0855584 , PHY-1950795 , PHY-2209590 ]. This work was supported by the United States DOE, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics through Los Alamos National Laboratory under Contract Number 89233218CNA000001 under proposal 2023 LANLEED3. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. DOE, Office of Science, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists , Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program . The SCGSR program is administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the DOE under contract number DE-SC0014664 . This research used resources at the Spallation Neutron Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This work was supported through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) contract SAPPJ-2022-00024 . Notice: This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ).

Funders	Funder number
Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists
Office of Science Graduate Student Research
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Science
SCGSR
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada	SAPPJ-2022-00024
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Nuclear Physics	DE-AC05-00OR22725, DE-FG02-97ER41042, DE-SC0014622
Nuclear Physics
National Science Foundation	PHY-0855584, PHY-1950795, PHY-2209590
National Science Foundation
Los Alamos National Laboratory	89233218CNA000001
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education	DE-SC0014664
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education

Keywords

DAQ
FPGA

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10.1016/j.nima.2024.170079

Cite this

Mathews, D. G., Acharya, H., Crawford, C. B., Gervais, M. H., Jezghani, A. P., McCrea, M., Nelsen, A., Atencio, A., Birge, N., Broussard, L. J., Choi, J. H., Gonzalez, F. M., Li, H., Macsai, N., Mendelsohn, A., Mammei, R. R., Riley, G. V., & Whitehead, R. A. (2025). A flexible data acquisition system architecture for the Nab experiment. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1071, Article 170079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2024.170079

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abstract = "The Nab experiment will measure the electron–neutrino correlation and Fierz interference term in free neutron beta decay to test the Standard Model and probe Beyond the Standard Model physics. Using National Instrument's PXIe-5171 Reconfigurable Oscilloscope module, we have developed a data acquisition system that is not only capable of meeting Nab's specifications, but flexible enough to be adapted in situ as the experimental environment dictates. The L1 and L2 trigger logic can be reconfigured to optimize the system for coincidence event detection at runtime through configuration files and LabVIEW controls. This system is capable of identifying L1 triggers at a rate of at least 1 MHz, while reading out a peak signal rate of approximately 2 GB/s. During the commissioning phase of the experiment, the system ran at a sustained readout rate of 400 MB/s of detector signal data originating from roughly 6 kHz L2 triggers, well within the peak performance of the system.",

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Mathews, DG, Acharya, H, Crawford, CB, Gervais, MH, Jezghani, AP, McCrea, M, Nelsen, A, Atencio, A, Birge, N, Broussard, LJ, Choi, JH, Gonzalez, FM, Li, H, Macsai, N, Mendelsohn, A, Mammei, RR, Riley, GV & Whitehead, RA 2025, 'A flexible data acquisition system architecture for the Nab experiment', Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, vol. 1071, 170079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2024.170079

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AU - Mathews, D. G.

AU - Acharya, H.

AU - Crawford, C. B.

AU - Gervais, M. H.

AU - Jezghani, A. P.

AU - McCrea, M.

AU - Nelsen, A.

AU - Atencio, A.

AU - Birge, N.

AU - Broussard, L. J.

AU - Choi, J. H.

AU - Gonzalez, F. M.

AU - Li, H.

AU - Macsai, N.

AU - Mendelsohn, A.

AU - Mammei, R. R.

AU - Riley, G. V.

AU - Whitehead, R. A.

PY - 2025/2

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N2 - The Nab experiment will measure the electron–neutrino correlation and Fierz interference term in free neutron beta decay to test the Standard Model and probe Beyond the Standard Model physics. Using National Instrument's PXIe-5171 Reconfigurable Oscilloscope module, we have developed a data acquisition system that is not only capable of meeting Nab's specifications, but flexible enough to be adapted in situ as the experimental environment dictates. The L1 and L2 trigger logic can be reconfigured to optimize the system for coincidence event detection at runtime through configuration files and LabVIEW controls. This system is capable of identifying L1 triggers at a rate of at least 1 MHz, while reading out a peak signal rate of approximately 2 GB/s. During the commissioning phase of the experiment, the system ran at a sustained readout rate of 400 MB/s of detector signal data originating from roughly 6 kHz L2 triggers, well within the peak performance of the system.

AB - The Nab experiment will measure the electron–neutrino correlation and Fierz interference term in free neutron beta decay to test the Standard Model and probe Beyond the Standard Model physics. Using National Instrument's PXIe-5171 Reconfigurable Oscilloscope module, we have developed a data acquisition system that is not only capable of meeting Nab's specifications, but flexible enough to be adapted in situ as the experimental environment dictates. The L1 and L2 trigger logic can be reconfigured to optimize the system for coincidence event detection at runtime through configuration files and LabVIEW controls. This system is capable of identifying L1 triggers at a rate of at least 1 MHz, while reading out a peak signal rate of approximately 2 GB/s. During the commissioning phase of the experiment, the system ran at a sustained readout rate of 400 MB/s of detector signal data originating from roughly 6 kHz L2 triggers, well within the peak performance of the system.

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JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

M1 - 170079

ER -

A flexible data acquisition system architecture for the Nab experiment

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