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Compton background suppression with a multi-element scintillation detector using high speed data acquisition and digital signal processing

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Abstract

A multi-element scintillation detector, consisting of eight NaI(Tl)/BGO scintillators surrounding a single NaI(Tl)/CsI(Tl) scintillator, was initially developed for locating and measuring concealed special nuclear materials that emit primarily low energy photons. Signal digitizers and LabView virtual instrument (VI) subroutines process and analyze pulses from each of the dual scintillators to suppress Compton interactions occurring in the central detector and discriminate between low and high energy photon events occurring within NaI(Tl) and CsI(Tl) crystals, respectively. Digital signal processing significantly improved the signal-to-noise ratio of the central detector and greatly reduced the analog electronic equipment required in the same time.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based, in part, upon work supported by the US Department of Homeland Security under grant award number 2012-DN-130-NF001. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the US Department of Homeland Security.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Engineering and Applied Science, Nuclear & Radiological Engineering, University of Cincinnati, 598 Rhodes Hall, Cincinnati, OH, 45221–0072, USA

    George Popescu, Staci Herman, Samuel Glover & Henry Spitz

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  1. George Popescu
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  2. Staci Herman
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  3. Samuel Glover
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  4. Henry Spitz
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Correspondence to George Popescu.

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Popescu, G., Herman, S., Glover, S. et al. Compton background suppression with a multi-element scintillation detector using high speed data acquisition and digital signal processing. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 307, 1949–1955 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4355-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4355-3

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