Compact Back-End Electronics with Temperature Compensation and Efficient Data Management for In Situ SiPM-Based Radiation Detection

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 23; no. 8; p. 4053
• Main Authors: Dixon, Nile E. J., Monk, Stephen D., Graham, James, Cheneler, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 17.04.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Algorithms; Database management systems; Detectors; Digital integrated circuits; Digitization; Field programmable gate arrays; gamma detectors; Gamma rays; Information storage and retrieval; Nuclear energy; Nuclear power plants; Radiation detectors; Receivers & amplifiers; silicon photomultiplier; temperature compensation; Wi-Fi; wireless data acquisition systems; Washington, D.C; gamma detectors; silicon photomultiplier; temperature compensation; wireless data acquisition systems
• DOI: 10.3390/s23084053
• ISSN: 1424-8220

A compact back-end interface for silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) implementing Zener diode-based temperature compensation has been developed for the remote detection of beta and gamma radiation. Remote detection is facilitated by the development of an efficient data management system utilising MySQL database storage for recording periodic spectra data for wireless access over a private Wi-Fi network. A trapezoidal peak shaping algorithm has been implemented on an FPGA for the continuous conversation of pulses from the SiPM, signifying the detection of a radiological particle, into spectra. This system has been designed to fit within a 46 mm cylindrical diameter for in situ characterization, and can be attached to one or more SiPMs used in conjunction with a range of scintillators. LED blink tests have been used to optimise the trapezoidal shaper coefficients to maximise the resolution of the recorded spectra. Experiments with an array of SiPMs integrated with a NaI(Tl) scintillator exposed to sealed sources of Co-60, Cs-137, Na-22 and Am-241 have shown that the detector achieves a peak efficiency of 27.09 ± 0.13% for a gamma peak at 59.54 keV produced by Am-241, and a minimum energy resolution (Delta E/E) of 4.27 ± 1.16% for the 1332.5 keV gamma peak from Co-60.