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Title: Monte Carlo simulation of the data acquisition chain of scintillation detectors

Abstract

The good performance of a detector can be strongly affected by the instrumentation used to acquire the data. The possibility of anticipating how the acquisition chain will affect the signal can help in finding the best solution among different set-ups. In this work we developed a Monte Carlo code that aims to simulate the effect of the various components of a digital Data Acquisition system (DAQ) applied to scintillation detectors. The components included in the model are: the scintillator, the photomultiplier tube (PMT), the signal cable and the digitizer. We benchmarked the code against real data acquired with a NE213 scintillator, comparing simulated and real signal pulses induced by gamma-ray interaction. Then we studied the dependence of the energy resolution of a pulse height spectrum (PHS) on the sampling frequency and the bit resolution of the digitizer. We found that exceeding some values of the sampling frequency and the bit resolution improves only marginally the performance of the system. The method can be applied for the study of various detector systems relevant for nuclear techniques, such as in fusion diagnostics.

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Uppsala University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Division of Applied Nuclear Physics, 75120 Uppsala (Sweden)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22308271
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
AIP Conference Proceedings
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 1612; Journal Issue: 1; Conference: International conference on fusion reactor diagnostics, Varenna (Italy), 9-13 Sep 2013; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0094-243X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS; ENERGY RESOLUTION; GAMMA RADIATION; MONTE CARLO METHOD; SCINTILLATION COUNTERS; SIGNALS

Citation Formats

Binda, F., Ericsson, G., Hellesen, C., Hjalmarsson, A., Eriksson, J., Skiba, M., Conroy, S., and Weiszflog, M. Monte Carlo simulation of the data acquisition chain of scintillation detectors. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4894032.
Binda, F., Ericsson, G., Hellesen, C., Hjalmarsson, A., Eriksson, J., Skiba, M., Conroy, S., & Weiszflog, M. Monte Carlo simulation of the data acquisition chain of scintillation detectors. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4894032
Binda, F., Ericsson, G., Hellesen, C., Hjalmarsson, A., Eriksson, J., Skiba, M., Conroy, S., and Weiszflog, M. 2014. "Monte Carlo simulation of the data acquisition chain of scintillation detectors". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4894032.
@article{osti_22308271,
title = {Monte Carlo simulation of the data acquisition chain of scintillation detectors},
author = {Binda, F. and Ericsson, G. and Hellesen, C. and Hjalmarsson, A. and Eriksson, J. and Skiba, M. and Conroy, S. and Weiszflog, M.},
abstractNote = {The good performance of a detector can be strongly affected by the instrumentation used to acquire the data. The possibility of anticipating how the acquisition chain will affect the signal can help in finding the best solution among different set-ups. In this work we developed a Monte Carlo code that aims to simulate the effect of the various components of a digital Data Acquisition system (DAQ) applied to scintillation detectors. The components included in the model are: the scintillator, the photomultiplier tube (PMT), the signal cable and the digitizer. We benchmarked the code against real data acquired with a NE213 scintillator, comparing simulated and real signal pulses induced by gamma-ray interaction. Then we studied the dependence of the energy resolution of a pulse height spectrum (PHS) on the sampling frequency and the bit resolution of the digitizer. We found that exceeding some values of the sampling frequency and the bit resolution improves only marginally the performance of the system. The method can be applied for the study of various detector systems relevant for nuclear techniques, such as in fusion diagnostics.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4894032},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22308271}, journal = {AIP Conference Proceedings},
issn = {0094-243X},
number = 1,
volume = 1612,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Aug 21 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Thu Aug 21 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}