is NI able to develop DAQ for nuclear radiation dectector?

[NuclearPhysics]

Dear,

 I want to use the NI to develop DAQ for nuclear radiation detector. But by looking the applications of NI. I can not see any. (sorry if I miss)

 Principle of a detector operation, A detector will be generate a analog pulse if a radiation hit the detector. The pusle height depends on the strength of radiation (i.e. its energy). The pulse width is from ns to us depends on the detector type. The data taking system only triggers when the pulse height is higher a setting value (i.e. discrimination value). The obtain value is the pulse height in the unit of ADC-channel.

 For multi detectors, FPGA is used for trigger DAQ system. I think NI has beyond of that. But for me, I can not find out from NI website.

 I need the support from NI techniques. ]

 Thank you very for your consideration,

Vohonghai

[Aaron O]

Vohonghai,

If you would like to make an analog voltage measurement of a pulse (or several analog measurements) then you can use a multifunctionDAQ card for this. MultifunctionDAQ cards are typically used for acquisitions up to 2MS/s with some cards sampling up to 10MS/s. For higher sample rates, you will want to use a Digitizer/Oscilloscope. 

Here are the product pages for DAQ and Digitizers, respectively:

Data Acquisition (DAQ)

Digitizers/Oscilloscopes

And here are two cards that could possibly fit you're application. These are just examples. You would need to evaluate what features you will need to make a decision on what card to use.

NI PCI-6251 - 16-Bit, 1 MS/s (Multichannel), 1.25 MS/s (1-Channel), 16 Analog Inputs

NI PCI-5114 - 250 MS/s, 8-Bit Digitizer/Oscilloscope

Regards,

Aaron

[NuclearPhysics]

Dear,

 Thank you very much for your reply. I spent my last few days to search the information of NI-DAQ, Labview, forum,etc. for the pulse-height measurement which is used in nuclear detector. It might there is no way to determine the original pulse height which has a width of micro-second or less because of limitation of sampling rate. It just determine the max of digital  value from labview analysis. If using a NI DAQ with sampling rate from Msample/sec to even 100 Ms/sec. It is still not determine the origin of pulse height except using some analying method.

I wish I am wrong...

 In nuclear DAQ, the ADC often used is chagre-ADC i.e. integrating ADC (Wilkinsion -ADC) or peak-ADC.

 I hope NI-DAQ has much beyond of what I said and is able to use for nuclear DAQ. I would open new application in nuclear DAQ.

 Please give me more information !

Best regards,

Hai

[Aaron O]

Hai,

From what I understand about you're post, you need high sample rates. If you need sample rates higher than 100MS/s, then you will want to use one of our Digitizers. 

The NI PXI-5154 is an example product that has a much higher sample rate. It has a maximum real-time sampling rate of 2GS/s. With a sample rate this high, you should easily be able to see a pulse width of a microsecond. You will also be able to determine the pulse height of the signal. 

Regards,

Aaron