Fast Neutron - Gamma Pulse Shape

Discrimination of Liquid Scintillation Signals

for Time Correlated Measurements
William L. Bryan, Member IEEE, Charles L. Britton, Member, IEEE, John T. Mihalczo,
John S. Neal, Member, IEEE, Sara A. Pozzi, and Raymond W. Tucker

Abstract--We describe a neutron/gamma pulse shape

discrimination (PSD) system that overcomes count rate
limitations of previous methods for distinguishing neutrons
from gammas in liquid scintillation detectors. Previous
methods of PSD usually involve pulse shaping time constants
that allow throughput of tens of thousands counts per second.
Time correlated measurements require many millions of
counts per second to accurately characterize nuclear material
samples. To rapidly inspect many test articles, a highthroughput system is desired. To add neutron - gamma
distinction to the analysis provides a much desired
enhancement to the characterizations. However, if the PSD
addition significantly slows down the inspection throughput,
this PSD feature defeats any analysis advantage. Our goal for
the fast PSD system is to provide sorted timing pulses to a fast,
multi-channel, time-correlation processor at rates approaching
several million counts per second enabling high throughput,
enhanced inspection of nuclear materials.

I. INTRODUCTION
sensitivity of time-dependent coincidence
Thesignatures
between two or more detectors to the
attributes of fissile materials has been demonstrated using
the Nuclear Materials Identification System (NMIS) [1][6].
Attributes of fissile materials are related to features
extracted from the NMIS signatures.
Pulse shape
discrimination (PSD) of the neutron and gamma
Manuscript received October 20, 2003. This work was supported in part
by the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.
William L. Bryan is with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak
Ridge, TN 37831-6006 USA (telephone: 865-576-6844, e-mail:
bryanwl@ornl.gov).
Charles L. Britton is with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak
Ridge, TN 37830-6006 USA (telephone: 865-574-1878, email:
brittoncl@ornl.gov).
John T. Mihalczo is with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak
Ridge, TN 37831-6010 USA (telephone: 865-574-5577, e-mail:
mihalczojt@ornl.gov).
John S. Neal is with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
37831-6010 USA (telephone: 865-576-8275, e-mail: nealjs1@ornl.gov).
Sara A. Pozzi is with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge,
TN
37831-6010
USA
(telephone:
865-574-5699,
e-mail:
pozzisa@ornl.gov).
Raymond W. Tucker is with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak
Ridge, TN 37831-6010 USA (telephone: 865-576-0947, e-mail:
tuckerrwjr@ornl.gov).

components of the signatures will allow extraction of new

features that have been shown to be more sensitive to fissile
material attributes than the features from the total signature
[7], [8]. Recent work using the MCNP-PoliMi code [9]
simulated detector-detector covariance functions for passive
measurements on plutonium spheres and cylinders. The
total signatures were divided into four components
according to the detected particles: neutron-neutron,
photon-photon, neutron-photon, and photon-neutron. These
simulations demonstrated the ability to distinguish
plutonium metal from oxide for spherical and cylindrical
samples without knowing the shape or mass of the samples.
In order to implement these simulations, one must use PSD
techniques to separate neutron and gamma pulses.
Previous methods of PSD allowed throughput of tens of
thousands counts per second.
Time-correlated
measurements require many millions of counts per second
to accurately and quickly characterize fissile material
samples. We have designed a neutron/gamma PSD system
that overcomes count rate limitations of previous methods
for distinguishing neutrons from gammas in liquid
scintillation detectors and integrates with other
commercially available nuclear instrument modules (NIM).
Our goal for this fast PSD system is to provide sorted
timing pulses to a fast, multi-channel, time-correlation
processor at rates approaching several million counts per
second.
II. ELECTRONIC PULSE SHAPE DISCRIMINATION METHODS
Electronic PSD methods generally fall into one of three
categories: (1) sensing differences in the decay times of
pulses, (2) integrating pulse charge over different time
intervals, and (3) digital capture and shape analysis of
pulses [10], [11]. All of these methods depend on the
ability to measure a difference in neutron and gamma pulse
characteristics for the detector of our choice, the liquid
scintillator BC501-A.
The rise time, or crossover, method [12] passes
individual pulses through a shaping network, producing a
bipolar pulse where the zero-crossing is a function of
pulse shape and pulse decay time. The time difference
between the pulse start and the zero-crossing is converted
by a time-to-amplitude-converter (TAC) into a pulse
amplitude. This method suffers from its dependence on

neutrons and gamma rays from a Cf-252 source. The Cf252 spectrum is a good surrogate for the neutron spectrum
for both uranium and plutonium. Neutron and gamma
pulses were differentiated using the time-of-flight
technique, and pulses were digitized for subsequent analysis
using a fast digital oscilloscope. Analysis of digitized
pulses provided insight into optimum signal integration
periods for pulse discrimination. A representative plot of
discrimination charge ratios, with an integration period from
5-80 ns past the peak, is presented in Figure 1. These
limited measurements were intended only to provide design
insight.

1200
photons

1000

Number of occurrences

measuring a very small difference in pulse tail decay times

for neutrons and gammas.
The charge integration method utilizes differing
fluorescence properties in organic scintillators in response
to neutrons and gammas. Several liquid scintillators
produce light pulses that exhibit differences in pulse decay
times for neutrons and gammas. While organic scintillators
typically have both fast and slow components of
scintillation, the majority of light is typically associated
with the fast component. The fraction of light produced in
the slow component often depends on the nature of the
exciting particle, with the fraction depending primarily on
the rate of energy loss, dE/dx. This light decay difference
can be distinguished as a difference of integrated signal
after the peak when normalized to the pulse peak value.
Several methods have been devised to resolve this
difference in pulse tail shape [13]-[16]. These methods
produce either ratios of gamma and neutrons with scalers or
two separate output signals for timing analysis. We are
interested in the latter application where the separated
neutron and gamma signals are later processed by the
NMIS.
The digital capture and shape analysis method [11]
acquires pulse waveforms using flash analog to digital
converters (ADC) with sampling rates > 1GigaSample per
second. The captured waveforms are analyzed off-line to
determine particle type, energy, and timing information.
This technique cannot yet provide the necessary throughput
for on-line, time-correlated measurements.

800

600

400

200
neutrons

0
-30

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

Charge ratio (arb. units)

III. FAST PSD MODULE DESIGN

The fast PSD module described here has been designed
to utilize the charge integration method. Commercial PSD
modules generally measure differences between the
integrated charge in the entire pulse and the integrated
charge over the rising or falling portion of the pulse. The
integrated charge over the entire pulse is a function of both
the energy of the radiation and the type of radiation
detected.
The rising portion of the pulse is most
representative of the energy of the radiation while the
falling portion of the pulse is most representative of the type
of radiation detected. This fast PSD module examines the
ratio of charge in the pulse tail to the peak amplitude of the
pulse (hereafter referred to as the charge ratio) [14]. The
module normalizes pulses on energy and increases
sensitivity to radiation type. In our case, the BC-501A
scintillator may be described by the mean decay times of
three components: 3.16, 32.3 and 270 ns [17]. It is assumed
that these decay constants did not vary with particle type,
but rather that the difference in neutron and gamma signals
is due to varying proportions of the first two (3.16 and 32.3
ns) decay times.
As part of the design investigation process, liquid
organic scintillators (BC-501A) were used to detect

Figure 1. Charge ratio for gamma and neutron pulses from Cf-252
collected using the time-of-flight technique.

These scoping measurements revealed a range of charge

ratios (-9 to -11 arbitrary units) in which gamma and
neutron signals mixed in nearly equal proportions. In order
to reduce neutron-gamma classification errors, the PSD
module was designed to reject signals in a similar range of
ratios through the use of window discriminators. A second
neutron peak occurs at a charge ratio of approximately -6
arbitrary units. These pulses may actually be gamma pulses
due to floor reflection effects, prompt gammas produced
several nanoseconds or greater after fission, accidental
coincidences, or gammas produced in the detector due to
inelastic neutron collisions. We are investigating all of
these potential sources and their effects on PSD. Numerous
measurements
were
performed
with
multiple
scintillator/photomultiplier tube/base combinations at
various bias voltages to develop a sense of the variability in
measurements.
This initial, fast PSD circuit design was developed to
determine the viability of performing the charge ratio
determination as a fast analog computation with minimal or
no pulse shaping to slow the process down. This should
provide the maximum throughput possible in keeping with
the NMIS inspection goals. The basic components of this

end of the dividers settling time to provide a sorted timing

signal for neutron or gamma inputs to the NMIS system for
correlation analysis.
IN

OUT

BUFFER
AMP
OUT

OUT
DELAY

computation are a) integration of the pulse trailing edge

over a precise time after the peak, b) measurement of the
peak amplitude, c) calculating the ratio of the integrated
charge to the peak and d) distinquishing neutron ratios
from gamma ratios with two window comparators. The
final values of these components occur over a time
continuum from some fraction of the pulse rise-time prior to
the peak to some time after the pulse trailing edge has been
integrated and a ratio has been determined. This time span
for the peak determination, integration and ratio processing
and the desire to use the result for time correlation between
multiple detector pulses implies the need for precision
timing circuits and precision analog delays since the timing
measurement and the ratio calculation must be derived from
the same pulse.
Figure 2 gives a block diagram of the fast PSD module
design. The detector signal must be buffered and split into
two signal processing paths, one for timing and one for
charge ratio analysis. Since the charge ratio analysis is
dependent on the self triggered timing signals, the analog
signal to the peak stretcher and gated integrator must be
precisely delayed to align the detector pulse rising and
trailing edges with precision gating signals for peak
measurement, trailing edge integration and sampling of the
window comparators after the charge ratio computation has
completed. This analog signal delay will vary depending on
the method and time necessary to generate the required
precision gates to control these measurements.
One output from the input buffer amp goes directly to a
commercial constant fraction discriminator (CFD) to
establish an exact time reference for a particular pulse. The
output pulse width of this CFD is set to be relatively wide,
~250 ns, and the signal is used to gate the fast PSDs two
peak stretcher circuits. A second CFD is triggered from the
output of the first CFD and its output pulse width is
adjusted to the required integration gating time, 80 to 160
ns. The output from the second CFD is further delayed and
retimed to gate the output of the window comparators after
the charge ratio computation is complete.
The second output from the buffer amplifier is routed
through an external adjustable analog delay module. The
delayed detector pulse signal is fed to the first peak stretcher
circuit and to the gated integrator circuit. The gated
integrator circuit output is fed to a second peak stretcher
circuit. Outputs from the two peak stretchers form the
inputs to the ratio computer that is implemented with a
direct denominator input, analog multiplier/divider
integrated circuit. Output from the divider circuit is
compared to three reference voltages by the three
comparators and the comparator outputs are combined
logically to form windows for gamma ratios and neutron
ratios, plus an exclusion region where the ratios overlap
with little discrimination. A fourth comparator monitors the
peak value of the pulse to prevent analysis of pulses
exceeding the dynamic range of the peak stretcher and
integrator circuits. These logical windows are gated at the

PMT

IN
IN

CFD

Gated
Peak
Stretcher

Gated
Integrator
OUT
GATE

IN

Gated
Peak
Stretcher
IN

OUT

Integral ULD
Discriminator

OUT
GATE

OUT
GATE

Vgain

Direct Q
Y Divisor
Multiplier

Integral MLD
Discriminator

Integral LLD
Discriminator

Voffset

IN

CFD

Integral
Discriminator

OUT
DELAY

Figure 2. Block diagram of fast PSD module.

IV. FAST PSD MODULE TESTING

The fundamental function of this on-line, fast PSD
module is to perform a fast calculation of the charge ratios
from organic scintillator detector signals and our initial
testing has concentrated on this fast analog calculation
function. To date, testing of the PSD module included
tuning peak stretchers, gated integrator and fast analog
divider electronics. Tuning involved the adjustment of the
timing and duration of gate signals for the gated peak
stretchers and the gated integrator, adjusting the gated
integrator integration time constant and gain and offset
adjustments throughout to optimize analog dynamic range
constraints. The output of the fast analog divider circuit was
input to a multi-channel analyzer (MCA) to gauge the
resulting charge ratio calculations. Cs-137 and Co-60
gamma sources and a mixed neutron and gamma source, Cf252, were used to help in making these initial adjustments.
The experimental setup consisted of a BC-501A scintillator
(cylinder with 4.625-inch diameter and 4-inch height)
coupled to an XP4512B phototube and the PSD module.
The radiation sources were placed approximately 6 inches
from the detector face with allowance for a 444-inch
tungsten cube used as a gamma shield.
Adjustments were performed to first insure that gammas
of any energy above a certain threshold were identified in
the same charge ratio range. Measurements were performed
using both a gamma-shielded and unshielded Cf-252 source
with results plotted in Figure 3. After this shielded unshielded gamma balance was achieved, integration times
can be adjusted to optimize the n-g separation at the MCA
for a range of energies. Next the thresholds for the window
comparators must be adjusted to set the regions of interest
that sort the output from the divider circuit into neutron and
gamma output pulse streams. The over-range comparator is
set to reject pulses the are too large. Finally, the delayed

strobe pulse that retimes the window comparators must be

adjusted to sample the region of interest when the divider
has settled to a stable value.
30000

VI ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Gammas

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the

Department of Energy, Office of Nonproliferation and
International Security, International Safeguards (NA-241).

25000
Cf-252 with tungsten block
Cf-252 without tungsten block

Counts

20000

VII. REFERENCES

15000

[1]
10000
Neutrons

[2]

5000
Gammas
Neutrons

0
400

[3]
450

500

550

600

Channel number (charge ratio)

[4]
Figure 3. Distribution of PSD module calculated charge ratios for a Cf252 source, with and without a tungsten gamma shield block.
[5]

V.

SUMMARY

This is a report on work in progress. Initial test results

show both the possibility of a fast PSD method of providing
high throughput (2-3 Mcps), neutron/gamma sorted timing
pulses to the NMIS correlation analysis system but also the
limitations of pushing the limits on fast analog computation
of the charge ratios. The measured MCA results of the
analog ratio computation, shown in Figure 3, are in good
agreement with results from previous PSD experiments
using much slower zero-crossing or off-line computed
methods [11], [13], [16]. But in performing these initial fast
PSD design set-ups and measurements, limitations of the
basic components of the analog computation were evident,
in particular the dynamic range limits of the energies of
pulses that could be reliably analyzed. The current fast PSD
can manage pulses with a dynamic range of less than 15:1.
Also limitations of the generation of precise and wide
dynamic range timing signals to control the peak stretching,
integration and window comparator strobing with off-theshelf NIM components proved to be less than what was
desired in terms of performance, ease of use and numbers of
components. Consequently, a second generation fast PSD
design is in progress to refine observed shortcomings in the
peak stretcher and gated integrator dynamic ranges to
double or triple the dynamic range of energies that may be
analyzed. Internal timing signal generation is being
integrated into the new fast PSD design as well as pile-up
detection and rejection during the ratio computation.

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]

[14]

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