MRI: Development of ASIC's Suite for Analog Processing of Signals from Large Arrays of Silicon-Strip Detectors and PSD-Capable Scintillators

该奖项支持ASIC(专用集成电路)芯片制造，该芯片制造将扩展两个旨在了解奇异原子核的复杂结构的低能核物理实验的能力。第一个实验将在NSCL(国家超导回旋加速器实验室)进行，将比较氧和锂同位素，它们具有镜面状的结构，可以导致更重的同位素，如Ar和氯的核合成。第二个实验将在佛罗里达州立大学进行，调查在理解新星和X射线爆发等爆炸性天体物理事件的产物方面发挥主要作用的反应。参与该项目的本科生和研究生将为在前沿物理和工程以及日益增长的重叠领域的专业生涯做好准备。更具体地说，该奖项支持ASIC芯片的开发、设计和制造，以扩大(至少)两个项目的科学覆盖范围。其中一个由华盛顿大学反应小组领导的项目，使用不变质量技术来研究富质子核的连续体结构。该计划将使用NSCL升级的HINP(重离子核物理)芯片来寻找O-11中的基态，O-11是Li-11的原型(巨大的n/p不对称)。这些测量，以及该小组和其他小组计划的其他测量，都需要具有大动态范围和出色分辨率的电子设备，这是新ASIC设计中包含的功能。第二个授权的实验计划将使用(d，n)反应作为与天体物理相关的(p，伽马)反应的替代品。这样的实验必须与物理中子串扰(在中子探测器本身)和伽马背景作斗争。PSD(脉冲形状识别)芯片的技术使大型中子敏感探测器阵列能够减少这些问题。这些实验将由佛罗里达州立大学的一个小组领导，最初在他们当地的设施，后来在阿贡国家实验室和未来的稀有同位素束设施(FRIB)。

This award supports the ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) chip fabrication that will expand the capabilities of two low energy nuclear physics experiments aimed at understanding the complex structure of exotic nuclei. The first experiment will take place at the NSCL (National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory) and will compare oxygen and lithium isotopes, which have mirror-like structure and can lead to the nucleosynthesis of heavier isotopes such as argon and chlorine. The second experiment will take place at Florida State University and investigate reactions that play a major role in understanding the products of explosive astrophysical events such as novae and x-ray bursts. The undergraduate and graduate students involved in the project will receive excellent preparation for professional careers in forefront physics and engineering and in the growing overlap areas.More specifically, this award supports the development, design and fabrication of ASIC chips that extend the scientific reach of (at least) two programs. One of these programs, led by the Washington University reactions group, uses the invariant mass technique to study the continuum structure of proton-rich nuclei. This program will use the upgraded HINP (Heavy Ion Nuclear Physics) chip at NSCL to search for the ground state in O-11, which is the mirror of Li-11, the prototype exotic nucleus (huge n/p asymmetry). These measurements, and others planned by this and other groups, require electronics with both large dynamic range and excellent resolution, features included in the new ASIC design. A second empowered experimental program will use (d,n) reactions as a surrogate for astrophysically relevant (p,gamma) reactions. Such experiments have to contend with physical neutron cross talk (in the neutron detectors themselves) and gamma background. The technology of the PSD (Pulse Shape Discrimination) chip enables large arrays of neutron-sensitive detectors that can reduce these problems. These experiments will be led by a Florida State University group, initially at their local facility and later at both Argonne National Laboratory and the future Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB).