Method for effective dead time measurement in counting systems

The counting losses introduced by the dead time of a counting system are a limiting factor in counting measurements. The purpose of this work is to re port an efficient method for the measurement of the effective dead time of a counting system and to characterize its dead time behavior, providing a w ay to investigate each experimental situation. The method, which we designa te as Delayed and Mixed Pulses method, is based on the artificial piling-up of detector pulses with electronic pulses delayed by a specific time inter val. It is applicable to the measurement of the effective dead time of a co unting system, including both pile-up effects and the dead time characteris tics of the elements of the counting chain. With counting systems relying o n gaseous radiation detectors, we achieved a standard uncertainty of about 5-10% in the dead times measured. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B. V.