AbstractA charge collection efficiency (CCE) measurement

system has been developed for CCE measurement of

semiconductor nuclear detector using a nuclear counting system
interface to a PC for data acquisition. A Field Programmable
Gate Array (FPGA) based multipurpose card used for system
development due to analog digital converter (ADC) and
multichannel analyzer (MCA) functions needed for data
acquisition available on board . This multipurpose card also
portable and can easily interfaced to a computer. A data
acquisition of CCE measurement system namely CCE
Measurement V.1.0 also developed using LabVIEW 8.6. The CCE
measurement system developed is a user friendly measurement
system as it contains detector information, experimental, analysis
and documentation. So, measurement results can automatically
prepared during system execution. A CCE measurement of
CdZnTe semiconductor detector AMPTEK XR-100T-CZT
exposed to Cs-137 with 10.45 Ci activity with an increasing
operating voltage proved that this developed measurement system
is functional and ready to use.

Index Termscharge collection efficiency (CCE), field
programmable gate array (FPGA), nuclear counting system,
semiconductor radiation detector
I. INTRODUCTION
Charge collection efficiency (CCE) of a semiconductor
nuclear detector is a ratio of collected charge to the charge
produced by the particle in the detector [1]. It is an important
parameter used in semiconductor nuclear detector
characterization as it explains the ability of detectors to convert
all the incoming nuclear radiation into measureable signal.
CCE values are measured using a CCE measurement system
that is basically consists of a nuclear detection system
connected to a data acquisition system. The CCE measurement
systems in other research institutes [2, 3, 4, 5, 6] use different
approaches that are either partially similar or totally different
from each other. None of these systems are a field
programmable gate array (FPGA) based measurement system.
This paper discussed a CCE measurement system developed
using a plug and play FPGA multipurpose card to interface a
nuclear counting system to computer. The developed CCE
measurement system is a low cost measurement system as the
system is an ordinary nuclear counting system interfaced to a
computer. This system differ from other nuclear counting
system by the usage of low cost FPGA multipurpose card and
customize data acquisitision programme. The FPGA
multipurpose card is used due to an analog digital converter
(ADC) and multichannel analyzer (MCA) function available on
this FPGA multipurpose card that are useful for data
acquisition [7]. The usage of this plug and play FPGA
multipurpose card makes a portable CCE measurement system
that any counting system can be transformed into CCE
measurement system by the usage of this FPGA multipurpose
card and customize data acquisitision programme.
A customize data acquisition programme namely CCE
Measurement V.1.0 is a developed data acquisition program
using LabVIEW 8.6. It is developed to retrieve an ADC and
MCA information to investigate nuclear detection ability in
response with high operating voltage.
Results of from the developed CCE measurement system
should be kept as record to monitor the detection ability of
semiconductor nuclear detector. Therefore, this CCE
measurement is a useful tool in quality assurance (QA) and
quality control (QC) of semiconductor nuclear detector.
II. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
A CCE measurement system based on FPGA multipurpose
card basically a nuclear counting system interfaced to a
computer by FPGA multipurpose card. A nuclear counting
system as shown in Fig. 1 consists of a sample, a detector
connected to a high voltage power supply (HVPS) to provide
operating voltage, a pre-amplifier Ortec 142A and an amplifier
Ortec 570.





Charge collection efficiency measurement
system based on field programmable gate array
multipurpose card
Norizam Saad, Ishak Mansor, Muhammad Azmi Abdul Hamid, Azman Jalar
and Roslinda Shamsudin
Faculty of Science & Technology (FST)
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)
43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Email: nrm_mint@yahoo.com
592
IEEE-ICSE2012 Proc., 2012, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
978-1-4673-2396-3/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE























FPGA multipurpose card in the system has an ADC and
MCA functions to enable the developed CCE Measurement
V.1.0 retrieved detectors operating voltage information peak
channel information of nuclear radiation detected for further
analysis.
CCE measurement system development been divided into
two main tasks, interfacing a nuclear counting system to a PC
and developing programming for data acquisition. Interfacing a
nuclear system to a computer as described in Fig.2 involved C
programming to enable access of ADC and MCA functions in
FPGA multipurpose card [8]. A CCE Measurement V.1.0, a
developed data acquisition program then acquired data from
these functions for further analysis. This program is a
structured user-friendly program developed using LabVIEW
8.6 for the purpose of CCE calculation and analysis. This
program has been divided into two parts, data entry and the
main program consisting of setting and configuration, counting
and analysis. The completed CCE measurement system then
tested with pulse generator and regulated power supply to
substitute both detector and high voltage power supply (HVPS)
to check the functionality of the developed system.












































The CCE measurement system developed to measure CCE
of a semiconductor nuclear detector. Therefore the functional
CCE measurement system is tested to measure the CCE of a
CdZnTe nuclear detector AMPTEK XR-100T-CZT for the
operating voltage started from 50 V then gradually increased
for 50 V until 500 V. This detector is used for testing due to its
room operating behavior and portable. As this CCE
measurement of this system applicable for any semiconductor
nuclear detector, any nuclear source can be used for measuring
purpose. But the nuclear source selection depends on the
detection capability of the semiconductor nuclear detector.
Therefore, operator of this measurement system has to refer the
semiconductor nuclear detector manuals or datasheet.
A gamma emitter Cs-137 nuclear source with 10.45 Ci
activity is used in CdZnTe nuclear detector CCE measurement.
Cs-137 nuclear source is selected due to its single energy
spectrum at 661.646 keV. This CCE measurement system
calculated the CCE value from the peak location of the energy
spectrum, therefore a single energy nuclear source such as Cs-
137 used for CCE measurement.


Compiling C programming to generate Hex and Aof file to access
ADC and MCA functions in FPGA based multipurpose card.
Downloading Hex or Aof file to microcontroller in FPGA based
multipurpose card to enable access ADC and MCA functions.
Developing CCE Measurement V.1.0 using LabVIEW 8.6 to obtain
ADC and MCA data information from microcontroller then process
to get CCE value.
Setup a nuclear counting system and connects to FPGA based
multipurpose card.
Test CCE measurement system with pulse generator as detector
sample and regulated power supply as HVPS.


Fig. 2. Process in CCE measurement system development.

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the developed CCE measurement system.
593
IEEE-ICSE2012 Proc., 2012, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia


III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The developed CCE measurement system in Fig. 3 equipped
with a data acquisition program in Fig. 4 consists of 3 main
pages, which are introduction, detector information and main
program. The introduction page as shown in Fig. 4 while the
detector information page is for users to fill detectors
information needed for datasheet and generated report. Main
program page consist of setting and configuration page,
counting page as shown in Fig. 5 and analysis page. Setting
and configuration page is to set parameters needed for CCE
calculation, counting page is for counting nuclear source
activity and measuring detectors CCE and analysis page in
Fig. 6 is for analyzing CCE measured and documentation.
These pages can be access from buttons on the left hand side in
Fig. 5.






























CCE measurement of CdZnTe nuclear detector and Cs-137
activity shows in Fig. 5. This measurement system able to
display Cs-137 activity both in counts and counts persecond
(cps). The 661.646 keV spectrum of Cs-137 is clearly
displayed in Fig. 5 and distinguishable. Detectors operating
voltage, CCE information and counting status also displayed in
this counting page.


















The CdZnTe nuclear detectors CCE measurement analysis
in Fig. 6 able plotted graph of the measured CCE versus
operating voltage. Operating voltage and CCE value
information of the active cursor on this graph also available.
This page also able to display the best operating voltage
referred to highest CCE values.

















The CCE measurement results of CdZnTe nuclear detector
AMPTEK XR-100T-CZT is programmed to be available in
datasheet and report format shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8. These
results prepared by save results and print results buttons in Fig.
6.












Fig. 4. Structures of CCE Measurement V.1.0.

Fig. 3 The developed CCE measurement system.

Fig. 5. Spectrum of Cs-137 displayed on main program page.

Fig. 7. CCE measurement of CdZnTe nuclear detector in datasheet
format.

Fig. 6. CCE measurement of CdZnTe nuclear detector analysis.
594
IEEE-ICSE2012 Proc., 2012, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia








































CCE measurement datasheet and report, both in Fig. 7 and
Fig. 8 are achievable after CCE analysis. Both results contain
detectors information and measurement results. Only a report
format that is for user shows measured CCE versus operating
voltage.
IV. CONCLUSION
The developed CCE measurement system based on FPGA
multipurpose card meet the research objective. Generated
datasheet and reports functions of this CCE measurement are
very helpful to user as it makes the documentation task easier
and faster. Record process is faster and efficient with the
generated datasheet and this data applicable to used in
commercial software for example Microsoft Excel and Origin.
This system is also applicable for semiconductor nuclear
detector characterization and QA/QC of semiconductor nuclear
detector. A front end enhancement of this system to
accommodate low current output from semiconductor radiation
detector such as SiC and GaAs creates a a room temperature
semiconductor nuclear detector research facilities.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Appreciation is expressed to the Ministry of Science,
Technology and Innovation for funding and instrumentation,
and to the Automation Center and Plant Assessment Testing
Group of the Malaysian Nuclear Agency and the Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia for their support.
REFERENCES
[1] L. Berluti, C. Canali, A. Castaldini, A. Cavallini, A. Centronio, S.
DAuria, C. Del Papa, C. Lanzieri, G. Mattei, F. Nava, M. Proia, P.
Rinaldi, and A. Zichichi, Gallium arsenide particle detector: a study of
the active region and charge collection efficiency, Nucl. Instr. Meth A,
vol. 354, no. 2-3, pp. 364-367, Jan 1995
[2] M.J. Harrison, A. Kargar, and D.S. McGregor, Charge collection
characteristics of frish collar CdZnTe gamma ray spectrometers, Nucl.
Instr. Meth. A, vol. 579, no. 1, pp. 134-137, Aug. 2001.
[3] F. G. Hartjes, Characterisation system to measure the charge collection
properties of prototype solid state detectors, National Institute for
Nuclear Physics and High Energy Physics, Amsterdam, Tech. Rep., Jul.
2005.
[4] M.D. Napoli, F. Giacoppo, G. Raciti, and E. Rapisarda, Study of charge
collection efficiency in 4H-SiC schottky diodes with
12
C ions, Nucl.
Instr. Meth. A, vol. 608, no. 1, pp. 80-85, Sept. 2009.
[5] P.J. Sellin, A.W. Davies, F. Boroumand, A. Lohstroh, M.E. zsan, J.
Parkin, and M. Veale, IBIC charcterisation of charge transport in
CdTe:Cl, Fizika I Tekhnika Poluprovodnikov, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 411-
416, Oct. 2006.
[6] M.K. Peterson, R.F. Hurley, K. Arya, C. Betancourt, M. Bruzzi, B.
Colby, M. Gerling, C. Meyer, J. Pixley, T. Rice, H.F. W. Sadrozinski,
M. Scaringella, J. Bernardini, L. Borello, F. Fiori, and A. Messineo,
Determination of the charge collection efficiency in neutron irradiated
silicon detectors, IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., vol. 56, no. 6, pp. 3828-3833,
Dec. 2009.
[7] I. Mansor, N. Saad, M. Mohd. Ibrahim, H. Rongen, H. Kaufmann, and K.
Sulaiman, Refurbishment of the whole body counter bed type ND7500
using a rectangular NaI scintillation detector and development of
integrated system software, in Proc. of a Technical Meeting, Vienna,
2006, pp. 121-128.
[8] H. Rongen, IAEA/RCA Regional training course on a data acquisition
and control module applicable in refurbishment of nuclear instrument, in
IAEA/RCA Regional training course, Malaysian Institute for Nuclear
Technology Research, Bangi, Jul. 7 18, 2003.








Fig. 8. CCE measurement of CdZnTe nuclear detector in report format.
595
IEEE-ICSE2012 Proc., 2012, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia