Digital pulse shape discrimination

Pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) has been utilised for about 40 years as a method to obtain estimates for dose in mixed neutron and photon fields. Digitizers that operate close to GHz are currently available at a reasonable cost, and they can be used to directly sample signals from photomultiplier t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRadiation protection dosimetry Vol. 126; no. 1-4; p. 253
Main Authors Miller, L F, Preston, J, Pozzi, S, Flaska, M, Neal, J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.01.2007
Subjects
Algorithms
Discriminant Analysis
Equipment Design
Equipment Failure Analysis
Neutrons
Pattern Recognition, Automated - methods
Radiation Dosage
Radiation Monitoring - instrumentation
Radiation Monitoring - methods
Radiation Protection - instrumentation
Radiation Protection - methods
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted - instrumentation
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Summary:Pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) has been utilised for about 40 years as a method to obtain estimates for dose in mixed neutron and photon fields. Digitizers that operate close to GHz are currently available at a reasonable cost, and they can be used to directly sample signals from photomultiplier tubes. This permits one to perform digital PSD rather than the traditional, and well-established, analogoue techniques. One issue that complicates PSD for neutrons in mixed fields is that the light output characteristics of typical scintillators available for PSD, such as BC501A, vary as a function of energy deposited in the detector. This behaviour is more easily accommodated with digital processing of signals than with analogoue signal processing. Results illustrate the effectiveness of digital PSD.
ISSN:0144-8420
1742-3406
DOI:10.1093/rpd/ncm052