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Digital Risetime Discrimination for Peak Enhancement in Gas Proportional Scintillation Counter X‐Ray Fluorescence Analysis
Author(s) -
Simões P. C. P. S.,
dos Santos J. M. F.,
Conde C. A. N.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
x‐ray spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.447
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1097-4539
pISSN - 0049-8246
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4539(199707)26:4<182::aid-xrs211>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - scintillation , detector , analyser , scintillation counter , scintillator , pulse (music) , optics , physics , pulse amplitude modulation , amplitude
A digital pulse processing technique was developed for a gas proportional scintillation counter to improve the detector performance for energy‐dispersive x‐ray spectrometric applications. The technique uses a digital pulse‐height analyser to access simultaneously the risetime and peak amplitude of each individual pulse. Pulses from x‐ray interactions occurring in the scintillation region and near the detector dead regions, both contributing to the spectral background, are rejected by digital pulse risetime discrimination. On the basis of the digitally measured risetime, the x‐ray pulse‐height distribution is improved through peak enhancement and background reduction. Results concerning x‐ray fluorescence spectra are presented showing an improvement in the limit of detection by a factor of two. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.