Course Details in 2025/26 Session

Module Title	LM Particle Detectors and Electronics
School	Physics and Astronomy
Department	Physics & Astronomy
Module Code	03 26460
Module Lead	Dr Dave Forest
Level	Masters Level
Credits	10
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-22 hours Guided independent study-78 hours Total: 100 hours
Exclusions
Description	Particle Detectors: Principles and operating characteristics of a variety of nuclear particle detectors (gas-filled, liquid and solid types), including discussions of the following topics:Specific energy-loss for electrons and for light and heavy ions; range-energy relationships. Statistical variations and Fano factor. Pulse formation in gaseous proportional counters; recombination effects: application to charged-particle and neutron detection; position-sensitive detectors and microdosimetry. Pulse-shape discrimination. Scintillation mechanism in organic and inorganic detectors: light - output characteristics and particle identification. Photomultiplier characteristics, time- and energy-resolution limitations. Application to neutron and photon detection. Principles of semiconductor detectors; energy response; energy resolution and its statistical aspects; timingcharacteristics and factors that influence them. Uses and operational characteristics of surface-barrier semiconductor detectors; lithium-drifted and hyperpure germanium detectors; position-sensitive detectors. Neutron spectrometry using semiconductor detectors and scintillation counters. Nuclear emulsions, image plates, and charge-coupled devices. Detection Electronics: Nature of information provided by detectors; pulse shapes and times; preamplifiers (especially charge-sensitive types). Pulse-shaping networks; integration and differentiation time-constants; pole-zero cancellation; delay-line clipping. Relevance to pulse shape and signal-to-noise ratio. Timing from pulses. Discriminators; coincidence units; delay-amplifiers; linear gates; time-to -amplitude converters; types of analogue-to-digital converters (ADC's). Functions, properties and shortcomings of modules. Counting and data acquisition systems.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module the student should be able to: understand the techniques involved in detection of nuclear radiations of various types and the electronic processing of the signals produced by the detectors.
Assessment	26460-01 : exam : Exam (Centrally Timetabled) - Written Unseen (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: Exam (100%) Reassessment: Supplementary exam
Other
Reading List