The continued advancements of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) have made them a viable photosensor for low energy pulse shape discrimination (PSD) between fast neutrons and gammas interactions when coupled to an appropriate scintillator. To assess the performance of two such scintillators, Stilbene and EJ-276, we have conducted studies using 6 mm3 scintillator cells coupled to a SiPM. We demonstrate that both scintillators are viable for conducting PSD for interaction energies from 100 keV to several MeV, whilst optimizing the PSD parameter by varying the integration periods used in its metric. Additionally, we have applied machine learning approaches, in particular boosted decision trees, to characterize the importance of each of the pulse features in a PSD assessment. Identifying the potential of PSD in the low energy region through applying a series of cuts on appropriate pulse parameters.
As Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) have become widely accepted photodetection replacements for photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), there is a demonstrable need for compact electronics that operate as front-end systems for high-density SiPM array readout for specialized end-use applications. One such application is fast neutron/gamma pulse shape discrimination (PSD). Currently, various scintillators are being developed and improved for such PSD, and consequently, there is a need for front-end systems capable of providing the required functionality for their readout. We have designed the second version of a prototype application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), PSD_CHIP. As in the first version, the ASIC integrates a scalable multi-channel readout system with a low noise front-end, real-time PSD, and a highly tunable digital core. Improvements in this version consist of a dual polarity capable front-end, adjustable gain, and two different techniques for the programmable digital delay lines. The ASIC is designed to provide an input dynamic range of order 1MeV energy depositions, depending on the light yield of specific scintillators. The high level of programmability on-chip is maintained in the synthesized digital core. Current targeted end-use applications include neutron cameras and active neutron-tagging systems for nuclear recoil calibration work of dark matter and neutrino experiments.
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