XIA LLCUSA Digital Pulse Processing Data Acquisition System (DPPDAS) Digital Pulse Processing Data Acquisition System (DPPDAS)

Digital pulse processing electronics represent the latest way to process signals from radiation detectors used in nuclear physics research. In the past, the data acquisition systems used in nuclear physics experiments were typically divided into two stages. In the first stage, analogue electronics would be used to shape and process the signals from a radiation detector to give energy and time information. The time and energy pulses would then be digitized by the second stage of the data acquisition system so the data could be stored on a computer for later analysis. However, detector signals often contain more information than just energy and time. For example, the shape of the signal can also contain important information on the type of radiation detected and its position of interaction within the detector. A famous application of this principle is the distinguishing of newton from gamma-ray signals from within a scintillator by pulse shape analysis. In the past this was achieved by specialized analogue electronics. In digital pulse processing data acquisition systems are now processed digitally. The signals from the detectors are time sliced, the height of the detector signal is digitized encoded, the shape of the pulse can be analyzed using software to give not only energy and time information, but also information, but also information on the position and type of radiation detected.