A receiver channel topology for a pulsed time-of-flight (TOF) laser rangefinder is presented. The designed compact IC receiver chip realized in 0.35 μm CMOS technology will include both a highperformance receiver channel and a time-to-digital converter (TDC). Its timing detection is based on the leading edge detection in the receiver channel. Amplitude-dependent timing error is compensated for by utilizing multi-channel TDC for detecting the pulse width and the slew rate of the received pulse echo and by using this information for calibration. Based on Cadence simulations a timing accuracy of < 100 ps is achieved within a dynamic range of more than 1:100,000.

We present the results obtained with a custom coaxial-cage line built to measure the complex dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability of granular and/or liquid materials. The coaxial-cage line presents an open structure to facilitate the insertion and to control the compactness of granular materials. The measurements have been performed using a Vector Network Analyzer and the electromagnetic parameters of the samples have been retrieved through the Nicolson-Ross-Weir algorithm (in case of magnetic materials) or the Boughriet algorithm (in case of non-magnetic ones). The cell has been used to characterize the electromagnetic properties of some geo-materials (clay soils and magnetite samples). The electromagnetic parameters are shown as a function of frequency (1MHz-1GHz) and temperature (about 200-298K).

In this paper, we present a methodology and a circuit to extract liquid mixtures resistance and capacitance simultaneously from the same output signal using interdigitated sensing electrodes. The principle is based on the triangular waveform voltage signal generation technique where a current square wave is applied to the sensor and results in a triangular output voltage that contains both the conductivity and permittivity parameters in a single periodic segment. A closed-loop current controlled oscillator that operates on a single DC power supply implements this concept. The system interface is portable and only a small number of electrical components are used to generate the expected signal. As test examples, the electrical conductivities of saline NaCl and KCl solutions are characterized by a system prototype and benchmarked against a commercially available equipment. The results show excellent linearity and prove the repeatability of the measurements.

Bench measurements nowadays represent an important tool to estimate the coupling impedance of any particle accelerator device. The well-known technique based on the coaxial wire method allows to excite in the device under test a field similar to the one generated by an ultra-relativistic point charge. We discuss the basics of the coaxial wire method and review the formulae widely used to convert measured scattering parameters to longitudinal and transverse impedance data. We review, as well, bead-pull technique used in the design, construction and tuning of multi-cell accelerating structures. We discuss typical measurement examples of interest for the CERN Large Hadron Collider as well as other state of the art particle accelerator.

At SPARC-LAB, we have installed an Electro-Optic Sampling (EOS) experiment for single shot, non-destructive measurements of the longitudinal distribution charge of individual electron bunches. The profile of the electron bunch field is electro-optically encoded into a Ti:Sa laser, having 130 fs (rms) pulse length, directly derived from the photocathode’s laser. The bunch profile information is spatially retrieved, i.e., the laser crosses with an angle of 30 deg with respect the normal to the surface of EO crystal (ZnTe, GaP) and the bunch longitudinal profile is mapped into the laser’s transverse profile. In particular, we used the EOS for a single-shot direct visualization of the time profile of a comb-like electron beam, consisting of two bunches, about 100 fs (rms) long, sub-picosecond spaced with a total charge of 160 pC. The electro-optic measurements (done with both ZnTe and GaP crystals) have been validated with both RF Deflector (RFD) and Michelson interferometer measurements.