Digital signal processing for mass identification in a 4[pi]--detector, using time of flight measurement

CHIMERA is the only 4[pi]-multidetector, used in intermediate nuclear physics experiments, able to perform mass identification of the reaction products. To this purpose, it employs time of flight measurements done with traditional time to digital converters. In order to improve the resolution in mass identification, we have applied digital signal processing to time of flight measurements. This paper presents the methodology for data analysis, the adopted algorithms and the results obtained at different sampling frequencies (mass identification up to A = 33 for the reaction products produced by a 20.5 MeV/u [sup.20]Ne beam on [sup.27]Al target). Index Terms--Mass identification, nuclear measurements, nuclear physics, online digital signal processing, time of flight measurement.