Data Acquisition Software for a Prototype of LET Spectrometer

Abstract

Silicon Strip Detector (SSD) has been widely used in detecting charged particles. Using SSD as detector, and to measure the Linear Energy Transfer (LET) generated by the ionizing radiation in manned spacecraft, a prototype of LET spectrometer is designed. This paper presents the design of the data acquisition (DAQ) software for the LET spectrometer. To read out and preliminarily analyze the data, the DAQ software is consist of three modules, which are readout and control module, data real-time imaging module, and offline data analysis module. The DAQ software realizes the dual communication with the electronics of the prototype through the Ethernet interface and the USB interface. Qt is used as the development tool for Windows platform, because of its excellent reliability and maintainability. C++ is used as the programming language. In a priliminary test, the DAQ software shows good performance and fits the needs of application.