TY - JOUR
T1 - An algorithm for charge-integration, pulse-shape discrimination and estimation of neutron/photon misclassification in organic scintillators
AU - Polack, J. K.
AU - Flaska, M.
AU - Enqvist, A.
AU - Sosa, C. S.
AU - Lawrence, C. C.
AU - Pozzi, S. A.
PY - 2015/6/22
Y1 - 2015/6/22
N2 - Abstract Organic scintillators are frequently used for measurements that require sensitivity to both photons and fast neutrons because of their pulse shape discrimination capabilities. In these measurement scenarios, particle identification is commonly handled using the charge-integration pulse shape discrimination method. This method works particularly well for high-energy depositions, but is prone to misclassification for relatively low-energy depositions. A novel algorithm has been developed for automatically performing charge-integration pulse shape discrimination in a consistent and repeatable manner. The algorithm is able to estimate the photon and neutron misclassification corresponding to the calculated discrimination parameters, and is capable of doing so using only the information measured by a single organic scintillator. This paper describes the algorithm and assesses its performance by comparing algorithm-estimated misclassification to values computed via a more traditional time-of-flight estimation. A single data set was processed using four different low-energy thresholds: 40, 60, 90, and 120 keVee. Overall, the results compared well between the two methods; in most cases, the algorithm-estimated values fell within the uncertainties of the TOF-estimated values.
AB - Abstract Organic scintillators are frequently used for measurements that require sensitivity to both photons and fast neutrons because of their pulse shape discrimination capabilities. In these measurement scenarios, particle identification is commonly handled using the charge-integration pulse shape discrimination method. This method works particularly well for high-energy depositions, but is prone to misclassification for relatively low-energy depositions. A novel algorithm has been developed for automatically performing charge-integration pulse shape discrimination in a consistent and repeatable manner. The algorithm is able to estimate the photon and neutron misclassification corresponding to the calculated discrimination parameters, and is capable of doing so using only the information measured by a single organic scintillator. This paper describes the algorithm and assesses its performance by comparing algorithm-estimated misclassification to values computed via a more traditional time-of-flight estimation. A single data set was processed using four different low-energy thresholds: 40, 60, 90, and 120 keVee. Overall, the results compared well between the two methods; in most cases, the algorithm-estimated values fell within the uncertainties of the TOF-estimated values.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84934961958&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84934961958&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.nima.2015.05.048
DO - 10.1016/j.nima.2015.05.048
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84934961958
VL - 795
SP - 253
EP - 267
JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
SN - 0168-9002
M1 - 57777
ER -