Nuclear electronics is a subfield of

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

concerned with the design and use of high-speed electronic systems for

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...

and elementary particle physics research, and for industrial and medical use. Essential elements of such systems include fast

detectors A sensor is often defined as a device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus. The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is sensed and converted into electrical signal. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a devi ...

for

charged particle In physics, a charged particle is a particle with an electric charge. For example, some elementary particles, like the electron or quarks are charged. Some composite particles like protons are charged particles. An ion, such as a molecule or atom ...

s, discriminators for separating them by energy, counters for counting the pulses produced by individual particles, fast

logic circuit A logic gate is a device that performs a Boolean function, a logical operation performed on one or more binary inputs that produces a single binary output. Depending on the context, the term may refer to an ideal logic gate, one that has, for ...

s (including

coincidence A coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances that have no apparent causal connection with one another. The perception of remarkable coincidences may lead to supernatural, occult, or paranormal claims, or it may lead to b ...

and veto gates), for identification of particular types of complex particle events, and

pulse height analyzer A pulse-height analyzer (PHA) is an instrument that accepts electronic pulses of varying heights from particle and event detectors, digitizes the pulse heights, and saves the number of pulses of each height in registers or channels, thus recording ...

s (PHAs) for sorting and counting

gamma ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol ), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from high energy interactions like the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei or astronomical events like solar flares. It consists o ...

s or particle interactions by energy, for spectral analysis.

Elementary components

Some of the essential components that make up the elements of a nuclear electronic analysis system include: * Detectors *Bias voltage supplies * Preamplifiers * Discriminators * Coincidence and veto logic

gate A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word is derived from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*gatan'', meaning an opening or passageway. Synonyms include yett (which comes from the same root w ...

s. * Counters * Pulse height analyzers These elements were originally developed and built in the laboratories of the scientists doing the pioneering work in the field, but are nowadays designed, developed, and manufactured by a variety of specialized vendors: * EG&G Ortec * Oxford Instruments * Stanford Research Systems * Tennelec

External links

Nuclear electronics college class. Electronics Nuclear technology {{nuclear-tech-stub

Elementary components

See also

External links