Pulse-shape discrimination technique in radioanalytical methods

Several successful techniques have been developed to eliminate unwanted background level in experimental radiation spectra. One of the background-reduction techniques is pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) which is based on the fact that different particles or quanta give rise to different spectrometer response, i.e. to different signal shapes. The shapes can be recognized and analyzed by appropriate electronic circuits which can measure either the rise time or the fall time of the pulses. The PSD technique has been suggested for different particle/background separations (such as n/γ, α/γ, α/proton or αa/electron separations). It has been successfully applied i.e. in separation of (fast) neutrons from intensive gamma background or charged particles from gammas. Recently the principle of the PSD has been applied in the construction of special ORTEC and CANBERRA spectroscopic modules. In this study we have employed the principle of PSD in two different radioanalytical methods developed in the Nuclear Research and Nuclear Physics Institutes in Rez. One of the methods concerns with the determination of uranium by delayed neutron counting (DNC), the second method is known as neutron depth profiling (NDP). An effective elimination of unwanted background signals in measured radiation spectra has been proved. At least two orders of magnitude of background level suppression has been achieved independently of employed PSD circuits. The PSD technique has substantially improved detection limits of the DNC and NDP facilities. (author)