SPIDR: a read-out system for Medipix3 & Timepix3

The realisation of the Timepix3 chip opened the way for new opportunities in research areas such as particle tracking with both semiconductor sensors and gas filled time projection chambers, electron microscopy and imaging mass spectrometry. To exploit the full capability of the Timepix3 chip, Nikhef developed a compact read-out system, called SPIDR that can deal with the high data output of 80 Mhits per chip per second. The main read-out board connects to both 10 Gb Ethernet and 1 Gb Ethernet devices. The latter obviously at a reduced rate. The main board connects to individual chip-carrier boards via a standard FMC connector. The system is designed such that support for other readout chips is foreseen via reprogramming of the FPGA. Besides the Timepix3 chip also the Medipix3 chip is currently supported. Both the main board and the chip carrier boards are cooled, via the housing and a fan to obtain a stable temperature of around 40 ± 0.2 °C for the Timepix3 chips. We will present the system and the results obtained with the LHCb beam telescope at CERN and proton radiography data obtained with a time projection chamber based on GEM technology.