Abstract
The use of EJ-299 for security applications, with a focus on active interrogation environments, has been investigated; in this application a plastic scintillator capable of n/gamma discrimination is extremely attractive. Development of a system incorporating EJ-299 for this application requires consideration of the effect of a high flux, dynamic, mixed neutron/gamma field on performance. Using EJ-299 plastic scintillator, the effects of geometry on the observed quality of pulse shape discrimination (PSD) is demonstrated, through the use of a digital data acquisition system and a digital version of the charge integration PSD algorithm. Figure of merit data (FOM) shows that as the geometry moves away from a cube like structure towards flat panel shapes, PSD deteriorates. The effect of the incident flux on the observed quality of PSD for EJ-299 has been investigated using an X-Ray generator. Separate neutron and gamma energy calibrations for an EJ-299 detector have been obtained through the use of well defined end point energy neutrons and sealed gamma sources. Throughout the thesis, discussion is had on how to best optimize a digital data acquisition system (DAQ) for PSD.