Proposed data acquisition system for an associated particle neutron generator and a LYSO gamma detector

A data acquisition system has been designed that deals with essentially two signals: a sharp timing pulse (with a width of roughly 20 nanoseconds) from a Hamamatsu H6568 square photomultiplier tube utilizing a 16-pixel ZnO(Ga) phosphor-coated alpha particle detector, and a long energy pulse (with a falltime of roughly 200 microseconds) from a LYSO detector designed for extreme precision in measuring the energy of gamma rays. These two detectors have been selected because they exhibit ideal characteristics for the ultimate goal of this system: detection and identification of drugs, explosives, and chemical warfare agents at a comparably very high rate of speed while maintaining reliable decision-making capacity. The entire data acquisition Will be designed and each component Will be specified with a commercially-available electronic module utilizing a VME bus or high speed CAMAC