Fast pulse sampling module for real-time neutron–gamma discrimination

作     者：Jia-Le Cai Dao-Wu Li Pei-Lin Wang Zhi-Ming Zhang Xiao-Hui Li Bao-Tong Feng Ting-Ting Hu Teng Tong Wei Zhou Long Wei 

作者机构：Beijing Engineering Research Center of Radiographic Techniques and EquipmentInstitute of High Energy PhysicsChinese Academy of Sciences School of Nuclear Science and TechnologyUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences 

出 版 物：《Nuclear Science and Techniques》 (核技术（英文）)

年 卷 期：2019年第30卷第5期

页      面：130-137页

核心收录：

学科分类：08[工学] 0807[工学-动力工程及工程热物理] 0827[工学-核科学与技术] 0703[理学-化学] 0702[理学-物理学] 0801[工学-力学（可授工学、理学学位）] 

基　　金：supported by the Instrument Developing Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(No.29201707) 

主　　题：Real time Neutron–gamma discrimination Domino Ring Sampler 4 Plastic scintillators 

摘      要：An adaptable and compact fast pulse sampling module was developed for the neutron–gamma discrimination. The developed module is well suited for low-cost and low-power consumption applications. It is based on the Domino Ring Sampler 4(DRS4) chip, which offers fast sampling speeds up to 5.12 giga samples per second(GSPS) to digitize pulses from front-end detectors. The high-resolution GSPS data is useful for obtaining precise real-time neutron–gamma discrimination results directly in this module. In this study, we have implemented real-time data analysis in a field programmable gate array. Real-time data analysis involves two aspects: digital waveform integral and digital pulse shape discrimination(PSD). It can significantly reduce the system dead time and data rate processed offline. Plastic scintillators(EJ-299-33), which have proven capable of PSD, were adopted as neutron detectors in the experiments. A photomultiplier tube(PMT)(model #XP2020) was coupled to one end of a detector to collect the output light from it. The pulse output from the anode of the PMT was directly passed onto the fast sampling module. The fast pulse sampling module was operated at 1 GSPS and 2 GSPS in these experiments, and the AmBe-241 source was used to examine the neutron–gamma discrimination quality. The PSD results with different sampling rates and energy thresholds were evaluated. The figure of merit(FOM) was used to describe the neutron–gamma discrimination quality. The best FOM value of 0.91 was obtained at 2 GSPS and 1 GSPS sampling rates with an energy threshold of 1.5 MeV_(ee)(electron equivalent).