Multichannel scaler/averager (MCS)

What is a multichannel scaler/averager ?

    A multichannel scaler/averagerr (MCS) is an instrument used to accumulate or average the number of ions or electrons. It is usually used in some experiments involving the detection of weak ions or electrons. Taking the experiments in our lab as an example, the ions are accelerated and struck on the microchannel plate (MCP), The output of the MCP device is connect to multi-channel calibration averager by using a 50 Ohm coaxial cable with a BNC connector. The ion charge (signal) is amplified by about 4 x 107 times. The resulting current nultiplied by 50 Ohm and converted into voltage. If the voltage is greater than the preset discrimination level (eg -10 mV or -15 mV), it can be counted. The sampling time (for example, 30 seconds) can be set during the experiment, and the total number of ions detected per unit time or the average number of ions can be obtained from the multi-channel calibration averager. Taking the Stanford Research Systems Model SR 430 Multichannel Scaler/Averager as an example, it has the following characteristics:

Singal Input
Bandwidth dc to 250 MHz
Input impedance 50 Ohms
Linear range +/- 300 mV
Input protection +/- 5 Vdc, 50 V for 1 microsecond

Discriminator
Discriminator range -300 mV to +300 mV
Discriminator slope Rising or falling
Resolution 0.2 mV
Input offset voltage 1 mV
Minimum pulse input 10 mV
Pulse pair resolution 5 ns
DISC output NIM levels into 50 Ohms

Trigger Input
Impedance 10 ohms
Threshold -2 V to 2 V
Slope Rising or Falling
Protection 15 VDC

Internal Time Bins
Bin width 5, 40, 80, 160, ... ns, 10.486 ms
Accuracy 1 ns
Jitter 100 ps + 10 ppm of delay
Accuracy 2 ns +1%

Counter/Accumulation
Bins per record 1k to 16k in 1k increment
Max count rate 100 MHz
Max count 32,767 per bin per trigger
Records per accumulation 1 to 64k (or free run)

Trigger Rate
Minimum period between triggers 
Tp = record time + accumulation time + overhead 
     = (no. of bins x bin width) + (no. of bins x 250 ns) 
         + 150 microseconds

Outputs
DISC  = Nim level into 50 ohms

 

How to use a multichannel scaler/averager ?
External trigger <--- 以BNC,
50 Ohm coaxial cable
           from the output port of the pulse/delay generator or photodiode device
         
Input <--- 以BNC,
50 Ohm coaxial cable
          from the output port of the MCP unit
Set proper
discrimination level,sampling time,bin width,number of channel, etc.
        

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