A flexible data acquisition system architecture for the Nab experiment
Here, 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.