Ionizing radiation detection system with a Pin diode

The need for the development and optimization of nuclear instrumentation has evolved from technological innovations in electronics and the need to measure radiation fields in specific applications. Currently, this evolution incorporates newly manufactured electronic devices and systems. For some applications the commercially available designs are too heavy, take up a lot of space and consume a lot of energy, opening and area of opportunity for the design of the systems optimization for the detection and measurement of ionizing radiation. The objective of this work was to design a system for the detection and measurement of ionizing radiation with a detector type Pin diode. The system uses a battery bank. The pulses of the Pin diode are pre-amplified in order to give shape to the pulse, in the next stage they are amplified in order to be counted and/or processed in a multichannel analyzer. In this design, Dip (dual-in-line-package) technology was changed to Smd (surface mounting device) reducing volume and energy consumption; thus the resulting system occupies a smaller volume and weight. Tests were carried out with a composite radiation source. Overall, the system is very compact, easy to transport and with small energy consumption. The system was tested by inserting pulses by means of a pulse generator and evaluating each of the stages of its treatment. Also, a source of alpha particles of Am-241 was used and the pulse height spectrum was obtained in a multichannel analyzer. The designed system will allow to measure in real time the concentration of Radon-222 in the air, which is considered one of the causes of lung cancer in non-smokers. (Author)