pulse height analyzer

Thân thiện

A scientist adjusts the settings on a pulse height analyzer in the laboratory.

Definition

Noun: A pulse height analyzer is a scientific instrument, specifically an electronic circuit, designed to sort and measure electrical signals. Its primary function is to allow only voltage pulses that reach a specific, predetermined magnitude (height) to pass through for further processing or counting. It is a fundamental tool in fields like nuclear physics, radiation detection, and spectroscopy for analyzing the energy distribution of particles or photons.

Usage and Examples

• Noun:
  • The researcher used a pulse height analyzer to distinguish between gamma rays of different energies emitted by the sample.
  • Accurate data collection requires calibrating the pulse height analyzer to the correct voltage threshold.

Advanced Usage

• In Spectroscopy: In applications like gamma-ray spectroscopy, a pulse height analyzer functions as the core component of a system that creates a histogram (or spectrum) of pulse counts versus voltage amplitude, directly correlating to particle energy.
• As a Discriminator: The device can be set to a single channel to act as a , counting only pulses above a certain height and rejecting noise or signals from lower-energy events.

Variants and Related Words

• Pulse Height Analysis (PHA) (n): The technique or process performed by a pulse height analyzer.
  • Pulse height analysis revealed the presence of two distinct radioactive isotopes.
• Multichannel Analyzer (MCA) (n): A more advanced version that sorts incoming pulses into many different voltage ranges (channels) simultaneously to build a full spectrum.
• Discriminator (n): A simpler circuit that performs a similar gating function based on a voltage threshold.

Synonyms

• Amplitude Analyzer: A less common synonym emphasizing the measurement of pulse amplitude (height).
• Kicksorter (n, chiefly British): An informal, historical term for a pulse height analyzer.

Related Technical Terms

• Single-Channel Analyzer (SCA) (n): A type of pulse height analyzer that examines one voltage window at a time.
• Threshold: The predetermined voltage level that a pulse must exceed (or fall within a set range) to be counted.
• Pulse Shaping: The conditioning of a signal before it is processed by the pulse height analyzer.

Học thuật

Noun

1. scientific instrument consisting of an electronic circuit that permits only voltage pulses of predetermined height to pass

Từ đồng nghĩa

• kicksorter