The back-streaming neutrons (Back-n) facility at China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) provides an excellent white neutron source for accurate nuclear data measurements. At Back-n, the GAmma spectrometer with GErmanium Array (GAEA) in planning is designed to measure neutron-induced cross-sections, nuclear structure, and in-beam nuclear spectroscopy. As GAEA consists of various detectors, developing and maintaining the readout electronics for this spectrometer is challenging. A prototype of readout electronics based on the universal digital readout platform is proposed in this paper. The digitizer in the platform consists of a data processing carrier and a signal acquire mezzanine. Different mezzanines are designed to accommodate various detectors in GAEA. The carrier's firmware also has a universal part for data readout and a reconfigurable module for real-time data processing. In order to synchronize all digitizers, a time synchronization module is designed, based upon which a global synchronous network is constructed with PXIe chassis. Critical signals as the clock, trigger, and control can be synchronously distributed over this network with high precision, significantly simplifying the whole readout electronics. Several tests were carried out to evaluate the prototype. The measured FWHM of the 22Na characteristic peak at 1274.5 keV is better than 0.15% for the HPGe detector. The measured time resolution of the readout electronics is 34.7 ps. Test results show that the performance of the readout electronics can meet GAEA requirements.

With the rising development of the Internet of Things (IoTs) and artificial intelligence, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have shown great application potential to dramatically improve our daily lives as self-powered sensors in portable and wearable electronics. In this study, copper foam with graded porous architectures (CFGA), featuring interconnected micro- and nanoporous composite structures, has been developed via a cost-effective and convenient industrial strategy, including electro galvanizing, thermal diffusion, and corrosion methods in sequence. Based on the measurement and evaluation of compressed force, frequency, and reliability, the obtained CFGA can enlarge the contact surface areas and improve the output performance of TENG effectively as a positive electrode. The results show that TENG based on CFGA can yield an open-circuit voltage and a short circuit current of as high as 45.8 V and 1.88 μA, respectively. The corresponding maximum output peak power can reach ∼52.9 μW. For practical application, CFGA-TENG can be designed in a spacer-free structure for keyboards with the function of electronic code lock. Meanwhile, it can also be applied in smart shoe insoles as a self-powered CFGA-TENG sensor array for human motion monitoring in real time. Our work provides an industrial production approach for functional electronics as energy harvesters and sensors and makes it more accessible for practical applications.

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