Dedicated 4πβ (LS)-γ (HPGe) digital coincidence system based on synchronous high-speed multichannel data acquisition**Supported by National Metrology Institute of China

Abstract

A dedicated 4πβ (LS) -γ (HPGe) digital coincidence system with five acquisition channels has been developed. Three ADC acquisition channels with an acquisition resolution of 8 bits and acquisition rate of 1 GSPS are utilized to collect the signals from three PMTs which are used to detect β decay, and two acquisition channels with an acquisition resolution of 16 bits and acquisition rate of 50 MSPS are utilized to collect the signals from high-purity germanium (HPGe), which is used to detect γ decay. In order to increase the accuracy of the coincidence system, all five acquisition channels are synchronous within 500 ps. The data collected by the five acquisition channels will be transmitted to the host PC through a PCI bus and saved as a file. Off-line software is utilized for the 4πβ (LS) -γ (HPGe) coincidence and data analysis as needed in practical applications. Tests of the system show that system can record pulse signals from 4πβ (LS) -γ (HPGe) synchronously for further coincidence calculation and the highest coincidence rate of the system is 20 K/s, which is sufficient for most applications. Compared with traditional coincidence modules like MAC3, the digital coincidence system has a higher flexibility of coincidence algorithm. In addition, due to the use of ADC, the structure of the coincidence system is simplified. This paper introduces the design of the hardware, the synchronization method and the test results of this system.