Comparison of analog and digital pulse-shape-discrimination systems

Pulse shape discrimination (PSD) performance of two optimized PSD systems (one digital and one analog) is compared in this work. One system uses digital charge integration, while the other system uses analog zero crossing. Measurements were conducted with each PSD system using the CAEN V1720 (250 MHz) data acquisition system. An organic-liquid scintillator, coupled to a photo-multiplier tube, was used to detect neutrons and gamma rays from a Cf-252 spontaneous-fission source. The PSD performance of both systems was optimized and quantified using a traditional figure-of-merit (FOM) approach. FOM's were found for three, 300 keVee light-output bins, spanning from 100 to 1000 keVee, and one larger bin from 100 to 1800 keVee. Digital PSD outperformed analog PSD in the lowest light-output bin by approximately 50%, and by 11% for the highest light-output bin.