Development of an ultra-fast data-acquisition system for a two-dimensional microstrip gas chamber

A high-performance data-acquisition system has been developed in order to obtain time-resolved sequential images from a two-dimensional microstrip gas chamber (MSGC). This was achieved using fully digital processing with a synchronized pipeline method. Complex logical circuits for processing large numbers of signals are mounted on a small number of complex programmable logic devices. The system is operated with a 10 MHz synchronous clock, and has the capability of handling more than 3 x 10(6) counts s(-1) for asynchronous events. The system was examined using a 5 x 5 cm MSGC and the recently developed 10 x 10 cm MSGC (1024 outputs); the anticipated performances were achieved.