Real-Time Signal Processing for Mitigating SiPM Dark Noise Effects in a Scintillating Neutron Detector

Published

July 19, 2021

Author(s)

Kevin N. Pritchard, Jean Philippe Chabot, R. Robucci, F. S. Choa, A. Osovizky, Jeffrey B. Ziegler, Louis E. Binkley, Peter Tsai, Nancy Hadad, M. Jackson, C. Hurlbut, George M. Baltic, Charles Majkrzak, Nicholas C. Maliszewskyj

Abstract

A ⁶LiF:ZnS(Ag) based cold neutron detector with wavelength shifting (WLS) fibers and SiPM photodetector was developed at the NIST Center for Neutron Research. For neutron scattering applications at the NCNR, detector false positives severely diminish the quality very faint neutron scatter patterns. Thermal noise generated by the SiPM significantly increases the likelihood of false positives by the detector/discriminator. This paper describes and evaluates a digital real-time algorithm implemented on an FPGA which quickly differentiates SiPM thermal noise and pulse pile-up from neutron signals. The algorithm reduces deadtime spent on examining noise pulses as well as reduces the number of false positives.

Citation

IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science

Volume

68

Issue

7

Pub Type

Journals

Citation

Pritchard, K. , Chabot, J. , Robucci, R. , Choa, F. , Osovizky, A. , Ziegler, J. , Binkley, L. , Tsai, P. , Hadad, N. , Jackson, M. , Hurlbut, C. , Baltic, G. , Majkrzak, C. and Maliszewskyj, N. (2021), Real-Time Signal Processing for Mitigating SiPM Dark Noise Effects in a Scintillating Neutron Detector, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Accessed October 1, 2025)