Timing and Triggering System Prototype for the XFEL Project

Abstract

The European X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) [1] at DESY in Hamburg will begin operating in the next few years, enabling new, ground-breaking research opportunities. The entire system requires very precise clock and trigger distribution, synchronous with the 1.3 GHz system RF-frequency, over distances of more than 3.4 km. The new experiment demanded features that other commercial solutions could not yet provide. Researchers at Stockholm University and DESY have developed a prototype for the timing system of XFEL. It has been decided that XFEL will use modern ATCA and Micro-TCA systems because of their advanced features and reliability. The timing system has been adapted to the Micro-TCA bus standard and also follows the new upcoming xTCA for physics standard. The prototype is fully functional and complete. It will serve as a platform for future development of the whole timing system. This paper describes the hardware design and some test results using the prototype board.