Intelligent nuclear detector - design and utilization
Jakub Navarik, Petr Novak, Jiri Pechousek, Dalibor Jancik and Jiri Frydrych
Current trends in development of measurement devices require its user-friendly control with possible
automated configuration. This way was applied in the nuclear detector development and its design is
presented.
Developed detector set consists of photomultiplier with scintillation detector, integrated high-voltage
(HV) supply, signal preamplifier, single-channel analyzer (SCA) unit, and master control unit. Detector is
equipped with communication interface which is used to control the detector via external software
application. Standard USB interface is used to communicate with the detector.
Master control unit converts the received commands into a relevant action to control all the functions of
the detector, which are necessary to set up the proper output parameters. Basic task to control the
detector features is to adjust the proper high voltage up to the 1200 V to power the photomultiplier. The
second task is to control the preamplifier, where the overall gain can reach value up to 50x. Setting the
low level and discrimination window in the SCA is the next task, which is controlled by the detector user
via the application and the master control unit. Master control unit also performs some tasks of selfdiagnostics i.e. the internal temperature monitoring, HV supply switching (on/off), and the checking of
supply voltage for all units.
The main output of the detector is amplified analog signal, with the possibility to change the polarity by
hardware way. The output of the SCA unit is directly connected to the output terminal of the detector as
standard TTL pulses. For performing the basic multichannel analysis of the detector signal through the
SCA, it is followed by the counter unit, which counts the output in the discrimination window for user
selected time (via the application).
Presented detector was tested with three types of scintillation crystals in common energy spectrum
measurements. High measurement performance and proper detection resolution was confirmed in its
utilization in the Mössbauer Spectrometer setup. Measurements were performed mainly with the
YAP:Ce scintillation crystal and 57Co radioactive source (14.4 KeV gamma-ray).
Detailed description of the detector will be presented together with test measurements presenting the
applicability of the intelligent nuclear detector in common nuclear spectroscopy systems.