FIGURES: A Versatile Readout System for High-Granularity Muography Detectors

This paper presents the design and evaluation of the FIGURES (FIne GranUlarity detector Readout Electronics System), a versatile readout system developed for detectors used in muography. The system is designed to interface with tracking detectors composed of fine-grained micro-pattern gaseous detectors (MPGDs), processing signals from thousands of detector channels with high performance position sensitive readout. Its modular architecture enables adaptability across a wide range of experimental configurations. This flexibility is realized through the development of position-encoding circuits, front-end electronics cards (FECs), a data acquisition (DAQ) board, and software for real-time tracking and visualization. The position-encoding circuit multiplexes the channels from the MPGD’s output onto fewer channels on the front-end electronics board, achieving a compression ratio of up to 16:1. The FEC supports multiple configurations, employing ASICs such as AGET/STAGE and commercial off-the-shelf components like the ADAS1128, to accommodate detectors of different types and sizes. The DAQ board interfaces with up to 32 FECs via optical fibers, aggregates data streams, and transfers them to the server while simultaneously distributing clock and trigger signals to FECs for synchronization. The performance of each component, as well as the integrated system, has been validated through experimental tests. The FIGURES enables scalable, high-resolution muon imaging with flexible front-end integration and has been successfully validated in multiple muography applications.