A gamma-spectrometry system for activation analysis

Based on a Preloaded Digital Filter operating on a 20% n-type HpGe detector with transistor reset preamplifier, and on a software implementation of a loss-free counting MCA, storing immediately into the multi-megabyte main me mory of a low-cost 486-type PC, the new system enables the collection of up to 120 pairs of simultaneously recorded loss-corrected and non-corrected s pectra of 16 k channels each, in a true sequence without time gaps in betwe en, at a throughput rate of up to 140 kc/s. Intended for activation analysi s of short-lived isomeric transitions, the system for the first time makes possible peak to background optimizations and even separations of lines wit h different half-lives without an a priori knowledge of sample composition by summing up appropriate numbers of spectra over appropriate intervals of time. The speed of this programmable system also made possible the direct c omparison of two methods of real-time correction of counting loss. by simul taneous recording of LFC-corrected, ZDT(tm)-corrected and non-corrected spe ctra together with their corresponding weighting factor distributions.