Handheld readout electronics to fully exploit the particle discrimination capabilities of elpasolite scintillators

Abstract

a b s t r a c tA new class of elpasolite scintillators has garnered recent attention due to the ability to perform as simultaneous gamma spectrometers and thermal neutron detectors. Such a dual-mode capability is made possible by pulse-shape discrimination (PSD), whereby the emission waveform profiles of gamma and neutron events are fundamentally unique. To take full advantage of these materials, we have developed the Compact Advanced Readout Electronics for Elpasolites (CAREE). This handheld instrument employs a multi-channel PSD-capable ASIC, custom micro-processor board, front-end electronics, power supplies, and a 2 in. photomultiplier tube for readout of the scintillator. The unit is highly configurable to allow for performance optimization amongst a wide sample of elpasolites which provide PSD in fundamentally different ways. We herein provide an introduction to elpasolites, then describe the motivation for the work, mechanical and electronic design, and preliminary performance results.

A wearable sensor based on CLYC scintillators

“…The resolution results are also consistent with the ARMD, which used R11265-100 super bi-alkali PMTs, which have the same size size and slightly less quantum efficiency than the R11265-200 [9].The CAREE system by contrast used a 2 in.-diameter PMT and achieved 4.9-5.6% resolution [8].…”

“…More recently, two systems based on CLYC have been developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and collaborators. The first is a hand-held, power-over-Ethernet device called the Compact Advanced Readout Electronics for Elpasolites (CAREE) [8]. This system utilizes a PSD-capable ASIC, consumes 2.28 W on average, achieves count rates up to 20 kHz, and supports various detector sizes.…”

Pulse-shape discrimination and energy quenching of alpha particles in Cs2LiLaBr6:Ce3+

“…The PMT was biased to −1400 V. We used an Agilent Acqiris DC282 10-bit waveform digitizer sampling at 2 GS/s to acquire 80,000 waveforms. Energy spectra and charge integrations were obtained with the LANL-developed Compact Laboratory PSD System (CLPS), which is based on the PSD8C ASIC [10] that was used in two handheld instruments utilizing elpasolites [11,12]. The CLPS system was designed to be flexible for use with a wide range of elpasolites, allowing the user to input pulse integration window widths, delays, and gains.…”

Elpasolite Planetary Ice and Composition Spectrometer (EPICS): A Low-Resource Combined Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer for Planetary Science

“…The processing electronics have been used in previous elpasolite-based instruments built at LANL [14], [15] and are built around the PSD8C ASIC [16]. These ASICs support eight channels with three gated integrators (prompt and delayed PSD windows, energy) for each channel, enabling a compact electronics board to easily handle the multi-channel EPICS sensor.…”