Abstract
<p class="Abstract">This work presents the design, experimental characterisation, and digital post-distortion (i.e., digital linearisation) of a MHz-range ADC analogue front-end prototype for a gamma radiation spectrometry system under development at the National Center for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) in Poland. The design accounts for the electrical response of the gamma particle detector in providing signal conditioning and ADC protection against high-voltage spikes due to occasional high-energy cosmic radiation, as well as proper ADC clocking. As the front-end inevitably introduces nonlinear distortion and dynamic effects, a characterisation is performed to quantify the actual performance in terms of Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) and Effective Number of Bits (ENOB). Thus, a digital linearisation based on both static and memory polynomial models is successfully applied by means of post-distortion processing, guaranteeing a substantial improvement in THD and ENOB, and demonstrating the effectiveness of the hardware/software method for gamma radiation spectrometers. </p>
Highlights
Gamma spectroscopy is the discipline studying gamma radiation sources
Gamma spectroscopy systems are commonly used for radiation monitoring, e.g., they are always found near sensitive nuclear apparatuses such as nuclear reactors or particle accelerators
We present the design, characterisation, and digital linearisation of an Analogue-to-Digital Converter (ADC) analogue front-end for the gamma spectrometry system under development at the Polish National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ)
Summary
Gamma spectroscopy is the discipline studying gamma radiation sources. The identification and characterisation of gamma radiation sources is employed for many purposes, ranging from scientific to industrial, as well as military. We present the design, characterisation, and digital linearisation of an ADC analogue front-end for the gamma spectrometry system under development at the Polish National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ). Such a board prototype implements a tailored signal conditioning stage including the ADC protection and it hosts the clock generation for the ADC, as well as all the necessary ADC control hardware. It reports the metrological characterisation of the front-end both with the standard-compliant method using sine wave excitations, as well as using pulsed signals typical of gamma spectroscopy applications.
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