Recovery of Particle Detector Degeneration Based on the Pulse Height Spectrum of an Adaptive Trapezoidal Pulse Shaper

Abstract

The design of a trapezoidal pulse shaper requires the definition of four parameters (k, l, m 1 , and m 2 ) whose values are defined based on the characteristics of the input signal (timing, noise, etc.). A radiation detector and the data acquisition electronics provide this signal. The detector degenerates after high doses of radiation and its output no longer meets the original requirements. This behavior may lead to erroneous measurements of particle characteristics (energy, mass, charge, etc.). We present a method to adapt the shaper's parameters to the degenerated behavior of the system based on the pulse height spectrum. It calculates, in real time, the new parameter values that recover the original detection specification under the new detector characteristics. We introduce the implementation of the system on a field programmable gate array as well. The implementation allows the autonomous recovery of the shaper in real time. Finally, we present the experimental results after testing the performance of this proposal using real data from the Castilla-La Mancha neutron monitor.