Implementing method of optimum front-end conditioner based on Butterworth filter

The front-end conditioner is an essential part of digital systems of nuclear spectrometer, which functions in two ways: (1) prevents saturation of the subsequent ADC; (2) limits the bandwidth of frequency to realize anti-aliasing. To realize the above-mentioned functions, an optimum front-end conditioner for a resistive feedback charge-sensitive preamplifier is designed. In the conditioner, the pole-zero compensation (P/Z compensation) technique was used to effectively filter signals from the preamplifier. The Butterworth filter was improved after the pole-zero position was optimally set up to shape the wave of output, which tallied with the whole system. The front-end conditioner can resolve the aberration of waveform of nuclear signals in a regular Butterworth filter. Compared with the traditional triple-pole filtering circuitry, the circuitry of this conditioner is more compact and flexible. Moreover, its output waveform is more symmetrical and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is higher. The improvement in the resolution of spectrometer is also significant.