Design of portable multi-function radiation detection system

Abstract

BackgroundIn order to fast and conveniently measure X, γ and neutron radiation field simultaneously, portable multi-function radiation detector is highly demanded.PurposeThis study aims to design a portable multi-function radiation detection system based on LaBr3(Ce) crystal, lithium aluminum silicate oxygen (LASO) neutron detector and high range Geiger-Muller (GM) counter.MethodsAfter the optical signal output from the LaBr3 crystal was photoelectrically converted into electronic signal by the photomultiplier tube (PMT), the integrated digital multi-channel was used for data acquisition of electronic signal, and the subsequent data processing and calculation. The front signal processing circuits, such as amplification, discrimination and shaping, were designed for both the LASO neutron detector and the GM tube counter. Finally, the digital signal processed of the LaBr3 detector was transmitted to the ARM (Advanced RISC Machine) processor in the form of TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic) serial port, and the pulse signal formed of the neutron detector and GM counter tube was connected to the external counting port of ARM processor. Energy spectrum was processed for nuclide identification and displayed by ARM processor whilst the low dose rate measurement base on the Gamma data collected by the LaBr3 detector, the neutron detector and the high range GM tube counter were counted at fixed time and converted from the count rate into the dose rate.Results & ConclusionsThe designed portable multi-function radiation detector realize simultaneous measurement of wide range (48 keV~3.0 MeV) γ, low-energy (48 keV~1.25 MeV) X-ray, (0.1~100 mSv∙h-1) neutron dose rates, and nuclide identification capability of LaBr3 spectrometer, and upload the data to PC through USB interface.

Keywords

• low energy x-ray measurement
• wide range γ measurement
• γ nuclide identification
• neutron measurement