Digital beta counting and pulse-shape analysis for high-precision nuclear beta decay half-life measurements: Tested on Al-26(m)
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A digital -counting method has been developed for high-precision nuclear -decay half-life experiments that use a gas proportional counter. An 8-bit, 1-GS/s sampling-rate digitizer was used to record the waveforms from the detector and a software filter was designed, tested and applied successfully to discriminate genuine -decay events from spurious signals by pulse-shape analysis. The method of using a high-speed digitizer for precision counting is described in detail. We have extensively tested the digitizer and the off-line filter by analyzing saved waveforms from the decay of Alm26 acquired at rates up to 10,000 per second. The half-life we obtain for Alm26 is 6345.300.90 ms, which agrees well with previous published measurements and is as precise as the best of them. This work demonstrates the feasibility of applying a high-speed digitizer and off-line digital signal processing techniques for high-precision nuclear -decay half-life measurements. 2013 Elsevier B.V.