A VAX AND PC-BASED DATA ACQUISITION-SYSTEM FOR MCA, SCANNING AND LIST-MODE ANALYSIS

The design of the data acquisition system for the National Accelerator Centre's nuclear microprobe is described. The system consists of an i ntelligent PC scanner and imaging terminal, interfaced to a VAX-11/750 running a general purpose data acquisition package XSYS. In this way, the user friendliness of a dedicated, intelligent scanner has been co mbined with the flexibility of a general purpose data acquisition pack age. It is illustrated how simple tasks such as beam focussing, area o f interest localization, and quantitative single spot PIYE or RBS anal ysis can be performed with minimal complexity, whereas requirements of a more complex nature can be implemented routinely using the general purpose acquisition package with standard command files. Even unique s tudies can be performed by means of minor software modifications.