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Deltoro, J. M. et al, Gadea, A., Perez-Vidal, R. M., Huyuk, T., & Illicachi, R. (2025). Implementation of a double trigger condition system based on charge comparison and TOF measurement for the NEDA detector array. Nucl. Sci. Tech., 36(2), 30–9pp.
Abstract: The NEutron Detector Array (NEDA) is designed to be coupled to gamma-ray spectrometers to enhance the sensitivity of the setup by enabling reaction channel selection through counting of the evaporated neutrons. This article presents the implementation of a double trigger condition system for NEDA, which improves the acquisition of neutrons and reduces the number of gamma rays acquired. Two independent triggers are generated in the double trigger condition system: one based on charge comparison (CC) and the other on time-of-flight (TOF). These triggers can be combined using OR and AND logic, offering four distinct trigger modes. The developed firmware is added to the previous one in the Virtex 6 field programmable gate array (FPGA) present in the system, which also includes signal processing, baseline correction, and various trigger logic blocks. The performance of the trigger system is evaluated using data from the E703 experiment performed at GANIL. The four trigger modes are applied to the same data, and a subsequent offline analysis is performed. It is shown that most of the detected neutrons are preserved with the AND mode, and the total number of gamma rays is significantly reduced. Compared with the CC trigger mode, the OR trigger mode allows increasing the selection of neutrons. In addition, it is demonstrated that if the OR mode is selected, the online CC trigger threshold can be raised without losing neutrons.
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Dilator, J. M., Jaworski, G., Goasduff, A., Gonzalez, V., Gadea, A., Palacz, M., et al. (2025). Reconstruction of pile-up events using a one-dimensional convolutional autoencoder for the NEDA detector array. Nucl. Sci. Tech., 36(2), 32–9pp.
Abstract: Pulse pile-up is a problem in nuclear spectroscopy and nuclear reaction studies that occurs when two pulses overlap and distort each other, degrading the quality of energy and timing information. Different methods have been used for pile-up rejection, both digital and analogue, but some pile-up events may contain pulses of interest and need to be reconstructed. The paper proposes a new method for reconstructing pile-up events acquired with a neutron detector array (NEDA) using an one-dimensional convolutional autoencoder (1D-CAE). The datasets for training and testing the 1D-CAE are created from data acquired from the NEDA. The new pile-up signal reconstruction method is evaluated from the point of view of how similar the reconstructed signals are to the original ones. Furthermore, it is analysed considering the result of the neutron-gamma discrimination based on charge comparison, comparing the result obtained from original and reconstructed signals.
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Egea Canet, F. J. et al, Gadea, A., & Huyuk, T. (2015). Digital Front-End Electronics for the Neutron Detector NEDA. IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., 62(3), 1063–1069.
Abstract: This paper presents the design of the NEDA (Neutron Detector Array) electronics, a first attempt to involve the use of digital electronics in large neutron detector arrays. Starting from the front-end modules attached to the PMTs (PhotoMultiplier Tubes) and ending up with the data processing workstations, a comprehensive electronic system capable of dealing with the acquisition and pre-processing of the neutron array is detailed. Among the electronic modules required, we emphasize the front-end analog processing, the digitalization, digital pre-processing and communications firmware, as well as the integration of the GTS (Global Trigger and Synchronization) system, already used successfully in AGATA (Advanced Gamma Tracking Array). The NEDA array will be available for measurements in 2016.
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Luo, X. L. et al, Agramunt, J., Egea, F. J., Gadea, A., & Huyuk, T. (2014). Test of digital neutron-gamma discrimination with four different photomultiplier tubes for the NEutron Detector Array (NEDA). Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 767, 83–91.
Abstract: A comparative study of the neutron-gamma discrimination performance of a liquid scintillator detector BC501A coupled to four different 5 in photomultiplier tubes (ET9390kb, R11833-100, XP4512 and R4144) was carried out Both the Charge Comparison method and the Integrated Rise-Time method were implemented digitally to discriminate between neutrons and gamma rays emitted by a Cf-252 source. In both methods, the neutron-gamma discrimination capabilities of the four photomultiplier tubes were quantitatively compared by evaluating their figure-of-merit values at different energy regions between 50 keVee and 1000 keVee. Additionally, the results were further verified qualitatively using time-of-flight to distinguish gamma rays and neutrons. The results consistently show that photomultiplier tubes R11833-100 and ET9390kb generally perform best regarding neutron-gamma discrimination with only slight differences in figure-of-merit values. This superiority can be explained by their relatively higher photoelectron yield, which indicates that a scintillator detector coupled to a photomultiplier tube with higher photoelectron yield tends to result in better neutron-gamma discrimination performance. The results of this work will provide reference for the choice of photomultiplier tubes for future neutron detector arrays like NEDA.
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Luo, X. L. et al, Agramunt, J., Egea, F. J., Gadea, A., & Huyuk, T. (2018). Pulse pile-up identification and reconstruction for liquid scintillator based neutron detectors. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 897, 59–65.
Abstract: The issue of pulse pile-up is frequently encountered in nuclear experiments involving high counting rates, which will distort the pulse shapes and the energy spectra. A digital method of off-line processing of pile-up pulses is presented. The pile-up pulses were firstly identified by detecting the downward-going zero-crossings in the first-order derivative of the original signal, and then the constituent pulses were reconstructed based on comparing the pile-up pulse with four models that are generated by combining pairs of neutron and.. standard pulses together with a controllable time interval. The accuracy of this method in resolving the pile-up events was investigated as a function of the time interval between two pulses constituting a pile-up event. The obtained results show that the method is capable of disentangling two pulses with a time interval among them down to 20 ns, as well as classifying them as neutrons or gamma rays. Furthermore, the error of reconstructing pile-up pulses could be kept below 6% when successive peaks were separated by more than 50 ns. By applying the method in a high counting rate of pile-up events measurement of the NEutron Detector Array (NEDA), it was empirically found that this method can reconstruct the pile-up pulses and perform neutron-gamma discrimination quite accurately. It can also significantly correct the distorted pulse height spectrum due to pile-up events.
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Valiente-Dobon, J. J. et al, Egea, J., Huyuk, T., Gadea, A., Aliaga, R., Jurado-Gomez, M. L., et al. (2019). NEDA-NEutron Detector Array. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 927, 81–86.
Abstract: The NEutron Detector Array, NEDA, will form the next generation neutron detection system that has been designed to be operated in conjunction with gamma-ray arrays, such as the tracking-array AGATA, to aid nuclear spectroscopy studies. NEDA has been designed to be a versatile device, with high-detection efficiency, excellent neutron-gamma discrimination, and high rate capabilities. It will be employed in physics campaigns in order to maximise the scientific output, making use of the different stable and radioactive ion beams available in Europe. The first implementation of the neutron detector array NEDA with AGATA 1 pi was realised at GANIL. This manuscript reviews the various aspects of NEDA.
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