Correction to the count rates in a variable dead-time non-paralyzable counting system having an analog to digital converter

Dead time effects of a counting system requirecorrections to the count rate as well as to the count rate error estimates. It is shown theoretically as well as experimentally that the counting efficiency of the system increases if the dead time of a non-paralyzable counting system is made variable, which depends on the amplitude of the input pulse. Dead time of the system is mainly due to conversion time of the analog to digital converter of the system. Observations were taken for two specially designed analog to digital converters, one with fixed conversion time of 83μ sec, and the other with variable conversion time proportional to the input pulse height. These two analog to digital converters were connected in parallel and the results show that for a given counting efficiency, the upper limit of count rate can be increased by a factor of 25 to 30 using this electronic system in nuclear counting. (author)