Most position sensitive proportional counters (PSPCs) currently used in X-ray diffraction experiments have a dead time longer than 5 μs. Though such PSPCs are useful in measuring weak diffraction diagrams, a faster counter is needed to detect strong X-ray diagrams produced with synchrotron radiation sources. The long dead time of PSPCs using a charge division position read-out is due to the slow analog division circuit plus analog-to-digital converter employed in the present system. A fast processor can be built utilising two high-speed ADCs to digitize voltage signals from the detector, followed by a digital divider to compute position of detected photons. The present paper describes the design of such a processor and some preliminary testings of its performances.
Fast neutron spectroscopy with Mimac-FastN : a mobile and directional fast neutron spectrometer, from 1 MeV up to 15 MeV