Feasibility Study of the Use of Operational Amplifiers as Forward Gain Stages in Charge Preamplifiers and Shaping Filters for Radiation Detectors

Different application fields require the development of charge preamplifiers to be coupled with dedicated radiation detectors. In view of fast prototyping and targeting a medium number of readout channels, there are several advantages to the use of operational amplifiers (OpAmps) for the forward gain stage of charge preamplifiers and shaping filters. In this article, we present the feasibility study, design, and qualification of an OpAmp-based, charge preamplifier suited to equip a smart rad-hard detection system for the diagnostics and tagging of radioactive ion beams (RIBs) at high intensities (10⁶ pps or higher). This article illustrates the conception and design of the fast readout system and presents a detailed analysis and qualification of its performance.