Automation of variable low-energy positron beam experiments

Abstract

By exploiting the special BIOS interrupt (INT 1CH) of PC in conjunction with a compatible high-voltage controller card and menu-driven control program, we report here the automation of variable low-energy positron beam experiments. The beam experiment consists of monitoring the Doppler broadening lineshape parameters corresponding to the annihilation 511 keV γ-ray at various positron beam implantation energies. The variation and monitoring of the sample high voltage, which determines positron beam energy, is carried out using a controller add-on card coupled to a 0–30 kV high-voltage unit. The design features of this controller card are discussed. This controller card is housed in a PC, which also houses a multichannel analyser (MCA) card. The MCA stores the Doppler energy spectrum of the annihilation γ-ray. The interactive control program, written in Turbo C, carries out the assigned tasks. The design features of the automation and results are presented.