Digital Pulse-Processing Techniques for X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Semiconductor Detectors

Low power embedded processing of scintillation events with silicon photo multipliers

“…However, the fast count rates and high energy resolution requirements of typical radiation detection devices, demands a high speed and linearity that cannot generally be achieved employing these methods. Employing a longer shaping time increases system dead time, where given the random nature of radiation scintillation, the time delay potentially compromises the accurate identification of multiple events [6]. Furthermore, the analogue peak hold time is dependent on the Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) sample conversion time, adding to dead time and peak droop times.…”

“…The semi Gaussian shaping allows for the whole SiPM signal representation of the event to be considered when determining energy levels by capturing the shaped peak [5]. An alternative approach is to directly integrate the SiPM pulse using high speed sampling with a commercial digitiser and computer interface [6], which enables the energy and pulse shape of the radiation event to be evaluated. This however is not ideal for portable products due to the need for the external equipment and the high power requirements.…”