Reaching time resolution of less than 10 ps with plastic scintillation detectors

Timing-pick up detectors with excellent timing resolutions are essential in many modern nuclear physics experiments. Aiming to develop a Time-Of-Flight system with precision down to about 10 ps, we have made a systematic study of the timing characteristic of TOF detectors, which consist of several combinations of plastic scintillators and photomultiplier tubes. With the conventional electronics, the best timing resolution of about 5.1 ps (σ) has been achieved for detectors with an area size of 3 × 1 cm². It is found that for data digitalization a combination of TAC and ADC can achieve a better time resolution than the currently available TDC. Simultaneous measurements of both time and pulse height are very valuable for the correction of time-walk effect.