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4 Input Multichannel Analyzer 2 Input Multichannel

1. m 13 2 8 ADC Settings and Presets window xl 14 2 9 ADC settings for the first measurement A 15 2 10 Scale parameters for the scope depl y enne nnne nnne renis 15 2 11 Scale parameters for the spectrum depla y kanuna wawa 16 2 12 190 SCOPE Tied UOM seati o Depis tandiu e esu nare atasetoutt cua Dee i paru REDE Ed de EE RUE 16 2 13 Single display options dialOJ wmmememamu namuna naww wawunanu nnn nnne nnne nnne nnns 17 VIN Percussion 17 ad FFT Nally SIS GISDIAY E c 17 2 16 Setup a Gaussian Fit PHA measurement waa 18 2 17 Scope picture of a 1MHz sine wave 19 2 18 Switch to firmware based DHA 19 2 19 Firmware based Gaussian fit PHA spechum enean 20 2 20 MCAA Settings select MCS Mode nennen nnne nnne nnn nnne nnne nnns nane nnn ns 20 2 21 MCS Settings for a simple measurement enne nnne ns 21 2 22 simple MCS spectrum RETE T 21 2 25 ENG MCAAIN 22 SAMA IOC AMS MM 23 3 2 Simplified analog input and ADC eireutrm nennen nens 24 3 3 Circuit diagram of each GATETMGCS mput nennen nnne nna nnn nnns 24 3 4 Circuit diagram of the FEATURE VO H e EE 25 SE le e e Heel e Em 26 Snow EISE EE MNT 26 3 7 Pulsewidth check discard false oulses nennen nennen nensis 27 3 8 Gaussian shaped pulse ftt
2. lt 13 5 Yo Differential non linearity gaussian fit and 97 of the channels ref Fig 7 3 lt 1 GATE to threshold crossing C TBD TBD TAG bits sampling e GC e Le KEE 2 5 us Noise Spectrum Ramp Generator Fig 7 1 ADC noise spectrum generated with a ramp generator and Gaussian fit Integral Non Linearity Fig 7 2 ADC integral linearity plot for 32k ADC range 9 INL n COUNTS n Mean Range 1 with n 300 31300 Range 31001 includes non linearities of the ramp generator tail pulser and shaping amplifier 10 DNL n COUNTS n 0 5 x COUNTS n 1 0 5 x COUNTS n 1 with n 300 31300 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 87 Appendix Differential Non Linearity 12300 14300 16300 18300 20300 22300 Channel Fig 7 3 ADC differential non linearity plot for 32k ADC range DNL Distribution 1 0 0 9 0 8 0 7 0 6 0 5 0 4 0 3 02 0 1 0 0 02 03 04 05 06 0 7 08 09 1 096 DNL Fig 7 4 ADC DNL distribution 88 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH F MPANT MCA4 File Window Region Options Actoni Action2 Action3 Action Ese S exse et L mfi 13 301 5 Ms eje Appendix lol x 18 em gt mli gt x Wunsch spektr Dk ime r ADC 1 OFF BK 25k 245 230 245 258 D 5140 5150 5160 5170 5180 SET Counts 5130 TotalSum 52 131 Start Time
3. Iw Enable advanced Settings LTimepreset f 000 000 ZEC Countpreset IR 1 R lpreset ROI min max E e gz SCA Lower Upper E E5535 Threshold m ho Get Zero 2550 PHA Shaping fos TE guess Ge Gaussian Flattop Maximum Scope Mode Scope Mode 4036 Trigger Cu Iv L t edge Falling edge RTimepreset 100 000 sec Apply Cancel Fig 2 18 Switch to firmware based PHA Now only one display the PHA spectrum remains in the MPANT window see Fig 2 19 After starting the measurement again a peak begins to rise approximately at channel 5559 and you can see a data rate of almost 1MHz This rate depends a bit on the computer and the USB hubs used IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 19 Installation procedure ini xl File Window Region Options Actoni Action2 A nd Ss ee eg Ame Gore eases zali Ye ep F9 P e 24109 22410 20408 18408 1610 1410 12408 10408 8 000 000 6 000 000 4 000 000 2 000 000 o 5400 5420 5440 5460 5480 5500 5520 5540 5560 5580 5600 5620 5640 5660 5680 5700 TotalSum 55 934 784 Cursor 5559 Start Time 02 26 2015 20 14 21 Counts 21 255 043 Fig 2 19 Firmware based Gaussian fit PHA spectrum 2 5 4 Multiscaling measurement To setup a simple multiscaling measurement we need a square wave generator that provides 2 synchronous signals This can be achieved with e g a function generator with additi
4. Fig 2 16 Setup a Gaussian Fit PHA measurement Select Action1 Start or click Ki and start the scope measurement Ml halts the measurement The resulting picture is in Fig 2 17 You clearly see the sine wave with 1MHz and 6Vpp amplitude The PHA spectrum below shows a rising peak near channel 5559 As can be seen near the mouse pointer the converted signal rate is only some 2kHz To be able to process higher pulse rates the firmware based PHA fitting must be enabled and scope mode switched off 18 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Installation procedure F MPANT MCA4 File Window Region Options Actioni Action2 Action3 Action bb edel et LA ale KR tet pose fem ES eo e ee Y Fi Fz ra ra Fs re r7 ra F9 FAO F HF 12 8 000 my 7 000 5 000 5 000 4 000 3 000 2 000 1 000 De 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 3 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 psec TotalSum 102 793 093 Cursor 310 2 480 psec Value 47009 5982 047 mV 50 000 40 000 30 000 20 000 10 000 oz 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500 7000 7500 TotalSum 83 014 Cursor 3463 Start Time 02 26 2015 20 03 29 Counts 0 Acquisition ON 5 x O x igi xl Fig 2 17 Scope picture of a 1MHz sine wave Again go to the ADC Settings and Presets dialog and deselect Scope Mode ref Fig 2 18 BER Chri 1 e132 sl Setan Don t Use
5. Subtracts data from actual spectra channel the filename must be specified before with a command datname omoothes the data in actual spectra Clears the data of system 1 Exits the server and MPANT programs Displays a Messagebox containing Message and an OK button that must be pressed before execution can continue Displays a Messagebox containing Message an OK and an END button After the specified time 5000 msec the Messagebox vanishes and execution continues OK continues immediately END escapes execution Makes a beep The character may be replaced with Tor left empty The corresponding sound is defined in the WIN INI file in the sounds section Waits specified time 4000 msec 4 sec Outputs a pulse of 100 ms duration at dig 3 Waits 4000 ms for going the level at dig 7 going low After a timeout a Messagebox warns and waits for pressing OK Can be used for connecting a sample changer waits for going the level at pin 3 going low All Dig I O ports 0 7 can be used this way IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 53 loadcnf configfile run controlfile onstart command onstart off onstop command onstop off oncycle command oncycle off lastrun 5 numruns 5 onlast command onlast off exec program fitrois fitrois MC_A autocal autocal SP 1 deleteallrois 54 Software Description Loads a configuration stored in a config file like mc
6. 66 sm IOS SM m M 71 Reen NEE 82 6 Programming and Software ODA Wa 84 KADA AA AA AA AA AA e HI 85 4 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 14Dsolute Maxim m Rangi EE 85 7 2 Recommended Operating Condrtons areren 85 L ar elezioni EE 85 DECMESPSSIS M 85 KILA EM ees jt 85 TP DUDUS aaa aa 86 nece Digital VO ee RERO 86 Ge SIONS NRI 86 JA a I EE 86 7 4 2 Analog to Digital Converter 86 1 4 3 Multichannel SAID EE 90 He ORY 92 TIO PCC OS NCS eege 92 FE OUDIO TO OU NENNT 92 TO SS OMA IONS NNI IA AT 93 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 5 Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Table of Figures Ve Device AON sarees T 10 22 Driver ASTANA ON ETT E 10 2 9 Choosing he Ngt e TEE 11 2 4 Device Manager after successful driver mstalaton sese 11 ZS MIGAG gel 12 PA ubere zz Stanly ciel MET T 13 2 MCAS Se tings WIIG OW rr
7. This is the first dual parameter or calculated spectra with a length of 16384 channels The enumeration starts again at zero after all physical spectra The format of the data itself can be ASCII Binary GANAAS EMSA or CSV see below Individual spectra can also be saved into single files If separate header is checked in the data operations dialog such spectra data is written into two separate files one with extension mp containing configuration data and one containing pure spectra data with an extension indicating the chosen format The mp file contains the settings in ASCII format using the control language described in section 4 3 opectra data files with extension asc contain in each line one decimal number in ASCII containing the corresponding count value in the histogram Binary data files with extension dat are written with 4 bytes per data value as usual in the Intel world in reverse order i e the least significant byte comes first GANAAS data files with extension spe contain 10 data in ASCII format after a simple header This format is used by the IAEA gamma spectra evaluation program GANAAS EMSA data files are in ASCII with extension emsa and follow the NIST EMSA spectrum file format Another ASCII file format is the x y format with extension csv It can be read for example with Excel and contains the channel number and content as two decimal numbers in ASCII per line separated by a TAB character List files
8. Al C Statt Range from Jo 000 Preset Jo 000 Speed 1000 10 kB sec D Cancel Fig 5 25 Replay dialog 80 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH MPANT Software Selecting the Tool Bar Menu item opens the Tool Bar Dialog Box It enables arranging the icons in the Tool Bar x v Enable v Help over Toolbar v Help over Statusbar Commands Customized Toolbar Separator 3 Open New B Tile Hl Cascade New line Lhange ET Ti 5 j Hemove ll an erer Si Open New des Bemove Remove Canes Cancel Function keys Fig 5 26 Tool Bar dialog If it is enabled an array of icons in the MPANT Menu is shown Clicking the left mouse button with the cursor positioned on an icon the user can perform a corresponding MPANT Menu command very quick It is also possible to include icons for free programmable function keys F1 F12 into the Toolbar The function keys can be programmed in the Function keys dialog with any one of the commands described in 4 3 It can be accessed either by clicking the Function keys button or directly from the Options menu Programmable Commands X pfe 0 p frat ps eet pa ease m ute Fe uf amp e 0 g wmeo pm lwpa pm ute AA mate SCHIER Cancel Fig 5 27 Function keys dialog The functions can be executed by clicking the corresponding icon in the toolbar or by the corresponding function key on the keyboard simultaneously
9. At the host computer a high speed 480 Mbit s capable USB 2 0 interface must be used When the power is applied the POWER ON LED on the rear of the MCA4 should be lit and a second later POWER GOOD as well When the software and driver are already installed the computer will detect the MCA4 automatically as soon as it is connected 12 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Installation procedure 2 5 Getting Started 2 5 1 Initial offset calibration First step is to start the MCA4 software by double clicking the corresponding icon This will automatically start the MPANT program as well On startup the MCA4 Server is iconized and one does not have to worry about it since all hardware settings are accessible from the MPANT program which actually is the graphical user interface and which will appear now on your screen H MPANT MCA4 aua Bees mx AA rs re rz re eairgpitg s loj x v Tool Bar v Status Bar Status Window Tad TEEN Fit ROIs Output T3v Open Tv Save As 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 3 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 psec TotalSum 0 Cursor Start Time 02 26 2015 20 52 48 Value ni xl 4 2 n 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500 7000 7500 TotalSum 0 Cursor Start Time 02 26 2015 20 14 21 Counts Acquisition OFF Fig 2 6 Software startup screen At the very first start of the software and the MCA4 a calibration of
10. Cancel Conditions Fig 5 23 Spectra dialog INI The Slice option allows to create new single spectra displays showing a slice in a dual parameter spectrum Click on a dual parameter spectrum display to make it the active window then select the Slice menu item or toolbar icon The Slice dialog box is displayed Select x 2const or yzconst for the slice direction and the coordinate Clicking the create button creates the new display window In the title bar of the new window the name of the dual parameter spectra and the slice coordinate is shown IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 79 MPANT Software The slice position can be changed using the scroll bar in the Slice dialog or by entering the value in the edit field and pressing the button which is labeled Set after creation of the slice view Clicking its close field can close the Slice dialog Created slice spectra displays remain visible and their coordinates can be changed later using the Slice utility again The position of the Slice dialog with respect to the MPANT main window can be saved in the MPANT CFG file Rectangular ROI s are visible in the slice spectra display and can be created here CREE 5 x const o Create Ce u const _ Fig 5 24 Slice dialog Replay The menu item Options Replay opens the Replay settings dialog ref 4 1 3 Replay x M Replay Made Use Modified Settings Filename ED ev mcad smca4d TESTPB5 Ist E
11. Open All By selecting the Open All menu item all Display windows are opened Window list At the end of the Window menu all created Display windows are listed with their names the current active window is checked By selecting any of the names this window becomes the active window and is displayed in front of all the others 5 3 Region Menu The Region menu contains commands for Regions and ROI s Regions of Interest A Region can be defined by marking it in a display with the mouse using the right mouse button and dragging a rectangle over the area one is interested in A ROI i e an already defined region in a single spectrum can be shown zoomed by double clicking with the left mouse button on the corresponding colored area in the bar at the bottom of the spectra display A single mouse click with the left button on the corresponding colored area makes this to the selected ROI and lets the counts contained in this ROI be displayed in the information lines of the respective window Advance the selected ROI to the next or previous one using the 4 or key from the numeric keypad Polygonal and curved ROI s in MAP displays are implemented in addition to the rectangular ROI s The boundaries can be polygonal circular annular or pie Make a choice of the shape using the Menu Region Shape or the corresponding toolbar icon Define the ROI using the right mouse button the TAB and the END key please read the help in the status bar and s
12. IIIA F5 Fe F7 Fa F9 OFF speclA Time 4800 000 ADC 1 Real 4800 000 Live 4788 000 Dead 0 25 Count 3 067 757 Total 0 Rate 0 00 ROI 0 Net 0 ADC 2 Real 3012 000 Live 3000 000 Dead 0 40 Count 1 676 718 Total 1 676 716 Rate 0 00 ROI 1 870 706 Met 1 858 424 ADC 3 Real 1004 000 Live 1000 000 Dead 0 40 Count 497 672 Total 497 672 Rate 0 00 ROI 481 691 Net 109 892 ADC 4 Real 4956 000 Live 4946 000 Dead 0 20 Count 12 258 170 Total 12 258 170 Rate 0 00 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 ROI 12 253 224 TotalSum 3 059 580 Cursor 2718 2718 000 keV Net 12 253 224 Counts 123 3 Gross 75 033 Net 29 023 Mean 1 172 J26MBRIFO ROI 00021106 1169 1106 00 1169 00 keV Centroid 1131 88 1131 88 keV Acquisition OFF Fig 5 5 Compare two spectra 64 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH MPANT Software The Print menu item opens the print dialog It allows to arrange several pictures on a page into zones The number of zones in vertical and horizontal direction can be specified The Color can be black white RGB colored or Gray scale RGB is recommended also for black laser printers Some info lines containing date file name and title can be added For each page a temporary file PRINT1 WMF PRINT2 WMF will be created This file is in Windows Meta file format and can be exported into some other Windows applications Pape
13. Tupe Polygonal 3 Name banana Point OF B26 H f b Add Insert Change Next 5 egment Delete Delete All ROI Type Mame SUBROL Points 0500 O4 circle 1 Cancel New DU DO 0028 00161 00 0017 0043 00 0027 0072 z DO 0039 0047 KE 00 0045 0026 00 0036 0015 Clear All Madify 0503 06 pie PORE Ee Fig 5 8 Polygonal ROI Editing dialog For polygonal circular annular and pie ROI s there is a special dialog to select and edit all the parameters The ROI definition parameters can be saved into a CTL file and reloaded using the File menu like any control file Note that the selected ROI can be advanced in any activated spectra display by pressing the and key from the numeric keypad X projection Y Projection EH Projections of ROI s in dual parameter spectra to the x and y axes are implemented There are menu items X Projection and Y Projection in the Region menu They create new single spectra displays showing the respective projection of the selected ROI in a dual parameter spectrum in the active window 68 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH MPANT Software By selecting the Fit menu item or the respective icon a single Gaussian peak fit with linear background is performed for the currently marked region The fitted curve is displayed and a dialog box shows the results Res MPANT MCA4 E 10 xl LL File window Region Options Actionl Action2 Action3
14. gt mcaddde vi Diagram Fig 4 24 Opening the DDE conversation with the MCA4 server in LabVIEW 4 4 2 DDE Execute The DDE Execute command can be used to perform any action of the MCA4 program Any of the Control command lines described in section 4 3 can be used For example a sequence of control commands saved in a file TEST CTL can be executed by specifying the command RUN TEST CTL 56 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Software Description S gt mcaddde vi Diagram Fig 4 25 Executing a MCA4 command from a LabVIEW application The MCAA program then executes the command and after finishing it sends an Acknowledge message to the DDE client This can be used to synchronize the actions in both applications DDE Request The DDE Request is a message exchange to obtain the value of a specified item Only two items are defined for DDE request up to now RANGE and DATA The value is obtained as an ASCII string i e it must be converted by the client to get the numbers All other parameters concerning the setup can be obtained by the client application by reading and evaluating the configuration file RANGE The RANGE item can be used to obtain the total number of data i mca4dde vi Diagram ram Decimal Fig 4 26 Getting the total number of spectrum data with LabVIEW DATA With the DATA item the data is obtained The value of this item is a multiline string that contains in each line a decimal number as an ASCII string IMF
15. the Multi Display Settings dialog opens It allows to define dual parameter spectra showing coincident events from two ADC inputs The coincidence is recognized by the software if events from different ADC have a RTC value that is inside a specified coincidence time interval Multi Display Setting ji y Axis Haam a 1 Y Faram 2 H Range 256 Range 256 Coincidence time ps i O00 Name fa va Condition oom oom o Offset vw Offset Compr by Ze Compr by 2 n X Os Cancel Fig 4 16 Multi Display Setting For the x Axis and y Axis a Parameter and Range must be chosen from the respective drop down list You can edit a Name of the new multi spectra or you can left the Name edit field untouched to choose an automatically generated name like a_1 x a_2 The length of the Coincidence time window can be defined in units of us If Conditions are defined one can be selected as a necessary Condition for incrementing a channel in this dual parameter spectra See more about Conditions later in 4 1 10 For Zoomed Maps check the x Offset and y Offset checkbox and enter a value for the respective Offsets and Compression The 42 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Software Description Offset point marks the lower left corner of the zoomed map and the Compr by 2 n means the power of two by which the spectra are compressed A value of zero means full resolution Multi Time Display
16. when this feature is enabled ref chapter 4 1 6 ADC Settings and Fig 4 9 28 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Hardware Description 1st Peak 2nd Peak 6 of Pulse Height 6 of Pulse Height THRESHOLD Pulsewidth Fig 3 10 Pile up detection A second option to discard pile up events is to use the GATE input as REJECT signal if the external electronics e g pre amplifier provides such a signal In this mode an active REJECT signal while the ADC input signal is above the threshold i e a pulse is active discards the very event 3 3 3 Sampled voltage analysis In SVA mode the corresponding GATE input is used to initiate the sampling of the current analog input voltage The rising or falling edge of the GATE signal is selectable simultaneously each SVA event is tagged with the RTC 1ms or optionally 8ns and if selected the TAG inputs 3 3 4 Single channel analyzer SCA When a maximum of the input signal is detected the corresponding absolute maximum value is checked if it falls in between the lower and upper threshold levels If so a 120ns long SCA pulse is generated This is available at the FEATURE I O connector ref Fig 3 4 3 3 5 Real time live time and event counter Each of the 4 ADC channels is equipped with 3 independent and presettable 48 bit counters The timer counters provide a resolution of 1ms 8ns with RTC option Each pulse event is tagged with the corresponding real time value when the leadi
17. 12 253 224 128 MB FIFO Acquisition OFF gt mia F1 F2 F3 F4 Fs re r7 ra rojFtolFtt ot MBGO 7 E ka Hei d i EE ZG Lon rell x Lr ce a rr i an E ee 0 2 40 60 280 TotalSum 1 072 085 E Pent vos os P L f Bi i 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 Cursor Counts Ba Pillay 6 100 80 60 40 20 j 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 30 100 110 120 TotalSum 4 864 982 Cursor Counts Fig 5 2 MPANT Map and Isometric display A toolbar provides fast access to many used functions in the menu A status bar at the bottom gives help about the meaning of the toolbar icons A cursor appears when clicking the left mouse button inside the graphics area The cursor can be moved using the arrow keys To get rid of the cursor make a double click with the right mouse button outside the graphics area To define a region press the right mouse button and while keeping the button pressed drag a rectangle In zoomed state a scroll bar appears that allows scrolling through the spectrum In the following the several menu functions are described together with the corresponding toolbar icons 5 1 File Menu Load Add Save Display As Save MPA As These menu items provide the usual functions for loading and saving data either a complete data set when loading or saving a MPA data file or separated spectra when loading o
18. 20 Sum of counts spectrum before and after calbraton mna mwnnwama namana 45 421 Gro ele EE 46 A PE iO ES eee Ee eo EE m E EUN 46 23 COMBINE COMGINONS dilog EE 47 4 24 Opening the DDE conversation with the MCA4 server in LabVIEW nnnonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnne o6 4 25 Executing a MCA4 command from a LabVIEW applcaton 57 IMF FST ComTec GmbH Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig Fig 4 26 Getting the total number of spectrum data with LabVIEW ssssssssnnsssnnresnnnreenrenrsnrerrerrsnrerrerrennne 57 4 27 Getting the data with LabVIEW nuna wuneww nanunua munini wwa nnne nnne nnn nnne nna ns 58 4 28 Closing the DDE communication in Lab ninani ener 58 4 29 Control Panel of the demo VI for LabVIEW ninii anunua nnne 59 S MEE ue Lee EE 61 0 2 MPANT Map and Isometric display 62 5 3 File New Display ialog ccccccccsseccseeccseesesseceuceneececseeeseeesaseeeaeeesseesageesaseetseensesensesseseeseaeenenes 63 SA Compare dialog MSS 64 5 5 Compare IWO SPCC 2 RTL 64 Bs MUNN CO e EE 65 5 7 Slice and rectangular ROI Editing Cialog cc ceccccccccccseeeeeeeeeeseeeeeseeeeseeeeeeseeeseeeeseeseeeaeeeeeeneeseenees 68 5 8 Polygonal ROI Editing OA aa 68 5 9 Single Gaussian Peak iia 69 5 10 Log file Options for t
19. 438 ROI 000175 84 060 0 67 psec Centroid 79 50 0 64 psec Single Gaussian Peak Fit x e Range 26797 lt x lt 126927 SS ix C FWHM 4029 0015 Pos 26813 676 0 0093 Area 34210 185 counts 3525 31 0 54 counts s B Iterations O 3 43 Logfile DATATXT Options Save New Fi Cancel 6 000 4 000 2 000 26760 26780 26800 26820 26840 26860 26880 26900 26920 TotalSum 34 294 Cursor Start Time 03 20 2015 10 36 26 Counts 41 2673 2 256826 d 23 Acauisition OFF Fig 4 10 Setting a ROI in the waveform for the pulse height analysis of flattop pulses Scale Parameters x ADC Settings and Presets ell x Chn 1 Range 32768 Y Set All ch Dont Use v Enable advanced Settings RIimepreset 1000 000 sec LTimepreset 1000 000 sec Countpreset ROlpreset fi ROI min max fo 32768 SCA Lower Upper Jo 65535 Counts Range Counts Scale Maximal E6447 Minimal 1350 Auto scale Linear Logarithmic Color scaling Linear Ce Logarithmic Adapt Color cancel Fig 4 11 How to switch off Auto Scaling IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Threshold mV 100 0 Get Zero 2808 PHA Shaping 0 3 us guess Pulse width Mean between 75 84 from Roi crr Di 160 C Gaussian Flattop C Maximum Scope Mode v Scope Mode P 92 CH1 v Rising edge Trigger N
20. Actiond ini x MIX x Time 4946 000 Range m Fik 1438 a lt 11464 ADC1 PWHM 13 279 Real 4800 000 m 0 0099 Live 4788 000 1 485 0 0045 kev Dead 0 25 Pos fi 451 717 0 0052 Count 3 067 757 661 751 0 0024 keV Tu Stem Area 84492 304 counts 17 6026 0 36 counts s Rate 0 00 ROI 3 062 969 7 Iterations D 3 66 Net 3 034 311 Loafile DATA TXT Options r ADC 2 Save New Fit Cancel Real 3012 000 Live 3000 000 eDead 0 40 1420 1425 1430 1435 1440 1445 1450 1455 1460 1465 1470 1475 1480 1485 1490 1495 Count 1 876 718 TotalSum 135 549 Cursor 1420 1420 000 kel Counts 663 Total 1 876 718 Gross 74 913 Net 61 778 Mean 1 189 4121438 x2 1463 dx 25 11 16 keV Rate 0 00 R l 0001 2563 2625 1164 97 1133 04 keV Centroid 2582 91 1173 88 ke ROI 1 870 706 Net 1 858 424 ADC 3 Real 1004 000 Live 1000 000 Dead 0 40 Count 497 672 Total 497 672 Rate 0 00 ROI 461 691 Net 109 892 ADC 4 Real 4956 000 Live 4946 000 Dead i Count 12 258 170 o Total 12 258 170 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 2250 2500 2750 3000 3250 3500 3750 4000 0 250 Rate 0 00 TotalSum 1 876 718 Cursor ROI 12 253 224 Counts Net 12 253 224 128 MB FIFO Acauisition OFF EES Fig 5 9 Single Gaussian Peak Fit The full width at half maximum FWHM and Position of the Gaussian can be changed and a New Fit can be perform
21. ES evel e mii e sio e so e n F1 F2 ra r4 FS FS F7 F8 Fa Ft lFtt FC2 0 TotalSum 0 TotalSum 0 X 0 E l 2 E 0 5000 10000 0 5000 10000 TotalSum 0 Cursor TotalSum 0 Cursor Counts Counts Fig 5 28 MPANT with four systems enabled IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Programming and Software Options 6 Programming and Software Options The MCAA can be controlled by user written programs using the DLL software interface with example programs for Visual Basic LabVIEW and C that is available as an option Furthermore LINUX software is available as an option containing a driver library and console test program A Windows software similar to the LINUX package that runs without the server using a stand alone DLL is also available on demand for customers who own one of the two available library packages 84 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 7 Appendix Appendix 7 1 Absolute Maximum Ratings Input voltage DC input current Input power any ADC NDUR P geck 16 17 V any GATE MCS input short duration only 1 7 5 5 V any FEATURE I O port ccccccccccceeceeeasseeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeens 0 5 5 5 V DC power supply sesssessseeeneeennnneenenene nnne nnne nnn nnn nnns 14 V any ADC input rm 17 mA any GATE MCS input w w wwmemwmewwmamwumaniminw wwa n 70 mA any DIGITAL PO Wa 10 mA any GATE d
22. ROI 481 691 Net 109 892 ADC 4 Real 4956 000 Live 4946 000 Dead 0 20 Count 12 258 170 Total 12 258 170 Rate 0 00 ROI 12 253 224 Net 12 253 224 128 MB FIFO moco BER BER 70 0002 50 000 60 000 40 000 BI 30 000 40 000 30 000 20 000 20 000 10 000 10 000 0 o 1000 2000 3000 4000 1000 2000 3000 4000 Cursor TotalSum 12 258 170 Cursor Counts Start Time Tu J n 08 0 39 37 Counts TotalSum 1 876 718 Acquisition OFF Fig 5 1 MPANT main window The server program MCA4 EXE automatically starts MPANT If you try to start MPANT before the server is started a message box warns that you should start the server first If you want to use the server without the MPANT display program you may rename the file mpant exe into mympant exe It will then not be found by the server and not started MPANT can be closed at any time without affecting the data acquisition and can be restarted out of the server menu or by a shortcut on the desktop MPANT has viewing capabilities for single and two dimensional spectra For ROI s the ROISum Net sum and the mean counts per channel i e ROlSum divided by number of channels and the centroid is displayed x for single spectra x and y for two dimensional A single spectrum can be converted into a two dimensional one by specifying the x dimension in the display option dialog It is possible to drag a rectangle and zoo
23. already calibrated in a single spectrum and it is used also in a MAP spectrum the calibration is the same here The fastest way to get a good calibration is to create ROI s around peaks with known energy and enter the energy in the ROI editing dialog see Fig 5 7 Then use the Auto Calib function in the region menu You will immediately get a calibration and the dialog opens as shown in Fig 5 18 76 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH MPANT Software Comments Up to 13 comment lines with each 60 characters can be entered using the Comments dialog box The content of these lines is saved in the data header file The first line automatically contains the time and date when a measurement was started The second line contains the title of the spectra Note that editing this line changes the spectra name This is the only method to change the name of physical ADC spectra The description of each comment line can be changed by editing the file COMMENT TXT CI j x Starttime 07702 1986 12 14 32 Humber Turku fallout Chemobyl sdays Sample Place Ref Date Amount Unit Geometry Detector Remarks more more Fig 5 19 Comments dialog IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 77 MPANT Software Hardware Lud The Hardware settings dialog box allows to make all the respective settings ref 4 1 4 Als Made C MES 2MES ADC Settings FIFO Size Fui 128 Mb Write Listfile Binary S
24. change to a two dimensional view of the spectrum by specifying the x Dimension and clicking the button gt gt MAP from the Single Display Options dialog For MAP displays the Display Options dialog is changed and enables a choice between four Graphic types bitmap dot vector dot bitmap contour and vector contour Bitmap Dot is recommended as a standard because it makes a good and fast display The check box Invert Roi Pixel changes the color inside ROI s to make them better visible Vector Contour paints colored contour lines To calculate the lines takes a lot of time and causes the mouse pointer changing to an hourglass But it gives very impressive colored pictures suited especially for presentation and when looking carefully at spectra details 72 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH MPANT Software Sa tC Graphic Type x Dimension T 128 bitmap dot WEE Ge v Invert Rai Pixel bitmap contour vector contour gt gt Single Lancel gt gt lsometric Fig 5 14 Map Display Options dialog From the MAP View dialog it is possible to change to Single view by clicking gt gt Single or change to Isometric View by clicking gt gt Isometric This can also be done directly via the respective toolbar icon GH x Graphic Type View angles Precession 0 00 deg Tilt 35 00 deg Monochrome v Hidden Height BD x histogram Cancel gt gt Map Fig 5 15 Isometric Display Options dialog In
25. command is executed after a stop caused by a preset reached or trigger instead of the onstop command when the last file count is reached with autoinc on This can be used to finish programmed measure cycles Switches off the onlast feature Also a manual Stop command switches it off Executes a Windows program or PIF file Example exec notepad test ctl opens the notepad editor and loads test ctl Makes a single peak Gaussian fit for all ROIs in the active Display of MPANT and dumps the result into a logfile This is performed by the MPANT program and therefore can be made only if this application is running Similar to the fitroi command but using the argument allows to specify which spectrum should be evaluated independently of which child window is activated in MPANT MC A means STOP1 Makes a single peak Gaussian fit for all ROIs in the active Display of MPANT for which a peak value was entered in the MPANT Region Edit dialog and uses the results for a calibration This is performed by the MPANT program and therefore can be made only if this application is running Similar to the autocal command but using the argument allows to specify which spectrum should be evaluated independently of which child window is activated in MPANT deletes all ROIs in the active MPANT window IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Software Description deleteallrois MC allows to delete all ROls
26. directly All software using the DLL interface requires that the server program is running The DLL was mainly developed as an interface between the server program and MPANT not as a nice developing tool for customers But by looking at the programming examples and some hints in the DLL documentation it should be easy to develop own programs that are able to control the server like MPANT does The server program has a built in command interpreter The syntax of these commands is described in chapter 4 3 and in the MPANT on line help look for How to use the command language It is recommended to send commands like range 16384 to the server via the RunCmd DLL function i e RunCmd 0 range216384 if you want to set parameters like a spectra length The alternative method is to store all settings parameters into the DLL by calling the DLL function StoreSettingData setting 0 and then calling NewSetting 0 to send a message to the server to read new settings from the DLL This method will not work for changing a spectra length to avoid the problem of any undefined memory pointers The range parameter should be changed by the server program only or by sending a range command The recommended usage of the DLL is reading parameters like Status Settings Strings Cnt numbers ROI boundaries using the corresponding DLL functions but for any actions or setting any parameters the command interpreter should be used It is important that the D
27. had the scope mode active we did the PHA in software Now we will setup an experiment using the internal firmware based pulse height analysis This provides far higher conversion rates gt 1MHz without loss We use a general sine wave generator The upper half of a sine wave actually does not look so different from a gaussian shaped amplifier signal We set the frequency to 1MHz the offset such that the signal is mostly in the positive voltage range E g set the amplitude to 6Vpp and the Offset to 3V Connect the signal to the ADC 1 input ref Fig 3 1 First we want to verify what the input signal actually looks like In the MPANT window click on Options Hardware Settings or J and select Scope Mode with a range of 4096 and Trigger CH1 As PHA fit algorithm choose Gaussian We also need to select the shaping time After the first measurement you can get help selecting the proper shaping time with the guess button ref Fig 2 16 For a 1MHz sine wave 0 5 us is a good choice Clock OK BER S 1 h 8192 sl seal z Dont Use Iv Enable advanced Settings LTimepreset f DOC OU sec Countpreset Ro 1 R lpreset HUI min max E e gz SCA Lower Upper E E5535 Threshold nm on Get Zero 2550 PHA Shaping 05 Us guess Gaussian Flattop C Maximum Scope Mode v Scope Mode 4036 Trigger Cu v Rising edge Falling edge RTimepreset 1000 000 ZEC Apply Cancel
28. is necessary and the absolute maximum value is taken Fit for Gaussian shaped pulses A curve is fitted through the selected number of samples 2 x i1 1 around the absolute maximum This provides for a reduction of noise and thus better peak widths in the acquired spectrum IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 27 Hardware Description Curve Fit Pulsewidth PW Fig 3 8 Gaussian shaped pulse fitting The conversion time ref chapter 7 4 2 depends on the number of samples used for the fit Flat top pulse fitting For flattop pulses a chosen number of samples is averaged The area start and end of the averaged data is software selectable Three different modes are selectable for defining the averaging area ref Fig 3 9 Average Area Mode3 of PW MI2 M 2 M Fig 3 9 Flattop pulse fitting modes Mode 1 left edge is good for pulse forms that settle near the beginning Mode 2 right edge is good for pulse forms that settle towards the end Mode 3 CFT is particularly useful when the pulse width is largely dependent on the pulse height Pile up rejection A pile up rejection feature is implemented The incoming data is checked for a possible second peak before the signal fell below the threshold again ref Fig 3 10 If such a second peak is detected the pulse data is marked with a pile up detected flag It is also possible to discard the event without analyzing it further i e no fitting is performed
29. is paired with a green LED that indicate that the input is active They accept unipolar or bipolar signals in the range of 0 10V or 5V 0 8V 4V optional The input signal is continously sampled by a 125MHz 16bit 11 12 13 bit options are available analog to digital converter The converted data is buffered in a 32k x 16bit FIFO for subsequent evaluation This buffer FIFO can be segmented in 1 2 4 or 8 equal partitions Each segment holding the complete data of a detected input pulse for evaluation This allows for virtually dead time less conversion as incoming pulses can be stored while a previous pulse is still processed by the PHA fitting algorithms In absolute maximum mode no fit actually no conversion induced dead time exists IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 23 Hardware Description 4V or 45V i INPUTS 1 p 400R 261R Solder Joint x VA d i AGND 3V GND OQ SE Fig 3 2 Simplified analog input and ADC circuitry 3 2 2 GATE MCS Inputs The GATE MCS inputs provide a switchable 4 7kOhm pullup to 3 3V 4 7kOhm pulldown to GND or 50Ohm to GND input impedance Each input is equipped with a fast discriminator The threshold level can be chosen from 1 3V for TTL signals or 300mV for fast NIM signals 5 1V GATE MCS INPUTS T Fig 3 3 Circuit diagram of each GATE MCS input In PHA mode these inputs can be used as GATE PHA event gating is evaluated at the threshold crossin
30. isometric mode several single spectra are drawn behind each other The Precession angle around the vertical axis can be chosen in multiples of 90 degrees This rotation can also be done directly using toolbar icons and The Tilt angle is between the x and y axis and can be chosen between 15 and 89 degrees The Height specifies the percentage of the z axis length respective to the whole drawing it can be entered between 0 and 99 With hidden it can be specified whether the hidden parts are not drawn If Monochrome is checked the spectra are painted monochrome otherwise in color Ej By the Axis menu item or the respective icon the Axis Parameters dialog box is opened IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 73 MPANT Software Mam Window v Start maximized Frame width E Style Rectangular z a idth NM Font Gre Small srid yond Enable Iv Enable width 1 width fi Style Dot Style Dat sl Tick pTick Size 3 Width 1 Size f3 wief W Top M Bottom Use Calibration v Left v Right Use Calibration Fig 5 16 Axis Parameters dialog It provides many choices for the axis of a display The frame can be rectangular or L shape the frame thickness can be adjusted xWidth yWidth The font size can be chosen between Small and Large A grid for x and y can be enabled the style can be chosen between Solid Dash DashDot and DashDotDot Ticks on each of the four frame borders can be enabled
31. lt All lt lt All z All Stark with Dig 4 Go Status Dig 0 3 Invert Value incr at Stop Jo T aghits Tagbits i Cancel Save Sett Remote Clear before Start Fig 4 14 System Definition dialog box IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 41 Software Description 4 1 9 Calculated Spectra dialog Dependent on installed options like RTC and Coincidence Mode the MCAA software allows to create several calculated spectra from different channels By clicking Spectra in the Settings menu or the corresponding MPANT toolbar icon amp the Dualparameter and Calculated Spectra dialog box of the MCAA server is called Here additional dual parameter and calculated spectra can be added modified and deleted from the list Since firmware 5 16 it is possible to create a 2D view of the pulse height versus the pulse width if pulse width histogramming is enabled by a Add Shape button Dualparameter and Calculated spectra Mo CHN Range Type Mame Condition _ Add Mult al a2 25Be255 MAP Add Time 10 ATC al 2564256 TIM RTCxa 1 11 a1 2 18538 Drum Op 3C Add Calc 12 al 65536 HIS Hr ai 13 Al al 1284128 MAP A amp lxal Add Shape a u Delete Delete All Uk Cancel Conditions Fig 4 15 Dual parameter and Calculated spectra dialog box If the 8 ns RTC for at least two channels and Coincidence mode options are installed there is a Add Multi button If pressed
32. of a specified spectra 1 for means AT The following commands make sense only when using the serial line or TCP IP control or DLL control interface MC A sends the status of MC A via the serial port and make it actual MC H Sends the status of MC H via the serial port and make it actual Send the status of the actual channel sendfile filename Sends the ASCII file with name filename via the serial line The execution of a control file can be finished from the Server or MPANT with any Halt command IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 55 Software Description 4 4 Controlling the MCA4 Windows Server via DDE The MCA4 program can be a server for DDE Dynamic Data Exchange Many Windows software packages can use the DDE standard protocols to communicate with other Windows programs for example GRAMS FAMOS or LabVIEW In the following the DDE capabilities of the MCA4 program are described together with a demo VI Virtual Instrument for LabVIEW It is not recommended to use the DDE protocol for LabVIEW as also a DLL interface is available that is much faster The following should be seen as a general description of the DDE conversation capabilities of the MCA4 server program 4 4 1 Open Conversation application MCA4 topic MCA4 Any application that wants to be a client of a DDE server must open the conversation first by specifying an application and a topic name The application name is MCA4 and the topic is MCA4
33. of the System can be found Particularly the serial number is important for support purposes This serial number is unique for each MCAA system A click on the Installed button opens a dialog showing all installed features IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 33 Software Description About MCA4 xj x icu Model MCA4 104 SENET Pal 3 73 ADC1 Installed HIT Installed ADCS Installed HTC Installed ADCS Installed HTC Installed Version 1 0 for Windows XP Vista ADC Installed RTC Installed ADC Resolution b4k Multiscaling Installed Copyright 2013 FAST Coml ec Tag Bite Enabled Coine ADCT 2 Installed Installed Replay List files Enabled Coine ADC3 4 Installed Fig 4 5 About MCA4 dialog box and Installed items The MPANT menu item in the file menu starts the MPANT program if it is not running BER ER Module sl MLS Settings FIFO Size Emal 8 MB Onboard Histagramming Write Listfile ASCII SCAT 5041 E SCAS ISCAS x SLAT START Input SAS STOP2 Input SDAA 5052 hi Sc 4 sled M SLAZ sToP1 Input 5CA4 CH ADV Input Setup name Setup name MCA Browse MCA Browse d 1 Cancel Apply Load set Save E Cancel Apply Load sett Save Fig 4 6 Settings overview left PHA mode right MCS mode more than one MCA4 module 4 1 4 Settings Overview The Hardware item in the Settings menu opens the MCAA Settings dialog box It enables to switch between PHA mode left f
34. sca ffff sca2 ffff sca3 ffff sca4 ffff phafit 0 fitwidth1 29 fitwidth2 29 fitwidth3 29 fitwidth4 29 memsegs aa ctm8 125 mwidth1 0 mwidth2 0 mwidth3 0 mwidth4 0 gate 0 ctlsca 0 Software Description bit 10 GO Low at Stop bit 11 Clear before triggered start 0 255 DIG I O Output value bit 1 4 control trigger for scope mode bit 0 TRG_EDGE DOWN bit 1 TRG EDGE UP bit 2 4 TRG_SRC 0 none softw 1 4 CH1 4 5 extern bit 5 O normal 1 auto bit 6 single shot bit 16 mcs mode bit 17 2mcs mode bit 18 sequential mode bit 19 ext clock cycles for sequential mode bit O start with rising edge bit 1 stop1 rising edge bit 2 stop2 rising edge bit 3 ch adv rising edge bit 4 FAST NIM bit 5 4k7 MCS Inputs for external trigger and SVA bit O trigger ch1 with rising edge bit 1 ch2 rising edge bit 2 ch3 rising edge bit 3 ch4 rising edge bit 4 FAST NIM bit 5 1 4k7 0250 Ohm choice of units in dialog O ns 1 usec 2 msec 3 sec in units of 10 ns sweep preset value time preset unipolar or bipolar 0 count only stored events 02128 MB 1232 MB 228 MB LOWORD upperlevel SCA 1 HIWORD lowerlevel SCA 1 bit0 1 chn1 O max 1 fit 2 flattop 3 reserved bit2 3 chn2 bit4 5 chn3 bit6 7 chn4 LOWORD fitwidth gaussian HIWORD pulsewidth flattop Bit0 1 SEGMENTS CH1 0 3 1x32k 2x16
35. software or setupx64 exe for the native 64 bit software A directory called C MCA4 for the 32 bit software or C MCA4 x64 for the native 64 bit software is created on the hard disk and all MCA4 and MPANT files are transferred to this directory Drive C is taken as default drive and MCAA as default directory It is not mandatory that the MCA4 operating software is located in this directory You may specify a different directory during the installation or may copy the files later to any other directory The Setup program will install a shortcut on the desktop The icon directly starts MCA4 EXE The server program will automatically call the MPANT EXE program when it is executed The MCA4 Server program controls the MCA4 module but provides no graphics display capability by itself By using the MPANT program the user has complete control of the MCA4 along with the MPANT display capabilities To run the MCAA software simply double click on the MCA4 Server Program icon To close it close the MCA4 server in the Taskbar 2 4 Hardware Installation POWER GOOD ON Fig 2 5 MCAA rear panel Installation of the MCA4 is as easy as connecting a cable Connect the power supply to the POWER connector and an USB 2 0 cable to the USB port At the host computer plug in the USB cable into a high speed capable USB 2 0 port Since USB is a hot pluggable interface the sequence of applying power and connecting the USB port is not important NOTE
36. the entered setup name The file name is built by attaching A set and set to the shown name where is the 34 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Software Description serial number of the MCA4 Browse lets you search for settings files Load Sett loads one When loading a settings file the file with the serial number fitting to the device in the file name is loaded if one is found otherwise or when the software is running in demo mode the file MCA4A SET for the first MCA4 module 4 1 5 MCS Settings BER BE Range 4056 M Range 4096 D welltime 100 000 nsec D welltime 100 000 nsec External Clock External Clock Sequential cycles fi Sequential cycles 1 Sweep preset fio Sweep preset 10 W Dom Timepreset 10 000 RO Preset ho ROI Preset mu o asd Roi o 4096 ROI Preset MCS Inputs Polarity NIM DER HODI E 4096 MECS Inputs Impedance 50 Ohm Polarity TTL Dt Start rising edge Impedance ER Ohm Stop rising edge Start rising edge W Stopi rising edge Stop rising edge Channel Advance rising edge TUE Channel amp dvance rising edge Apply Cancel Apply Cancel Fig 4 7 MCS Settings for one left or two stop inputs right Clicking the MCS Settings button opens the MCS Settings or MCS2 Settings dialog as shown in Fig 4 7 The Range defines the number of time bins the Dwell
37. the tick length and thickness can be chosen The style of the axis labeling depends on enabled ticks at the bottom respective left side If no ticks are enabled there only the lowest and highest values are displayed at the axis otherwise the ticks are labeled Use calibration changes the axis ticks and labels into calibrated values A check box Start maximized allows to define if the MPANT main window should start in maximized size lt is necessary to save the MPANT options to make these settings permanent 74 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH pe Or Scaling f ol The Scaling menu item or the corresponding icon opens the Scale Parameters dialog box Scale Parameters X Counts Range Maximal jer 364 Minimal Jo W Auto scale Counts Scale Linear Logarithmic Color scaling Linear Minimum auto scale f Logarithmic Adapt Color Cancel Fig 5 17 Scale Parameters dialog It enables changing the ranges and attributes of a Spectrum axis By setting the Auto scaling mode the MPANT will automatically recalculate the y axis maximum value for the visible Spectrum region only To keep the same height of the visible region for a longer time deselect the Auto scaling mode Then with the scroll bar thumb one can quickly change the visible region scale otherwise the scale will be changed automatically The Minimum auto scale mode helps to display weak structures on a large background Lin Log sca
38. to do next time when you start the software all modules will be found and can be operated 22 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Hardware Description 3 Hardware Description 3 1 Overview The MCA4 series is a family of USB connected multichannel analyzers All settings are software selectable No jumper switch etc configurations are necessary MCA4 LED ON means GATE active ADC active MCS active START STOP 1 amp 2 CHADV Fig 3 1 MCA4 front panel A 1GBit internal DDR2 RAM is configurable as large FIFO buffer for listmode data transfer or as histogramming memory for onboard spectrum acquisition Four onboard discriminators at the four rightmost BNC connectors allow for either positive TTL slow NIM or negative fast NIM GATE MCS input signals Four outputs at the feature connector provide several selectable signals e g SCA BUSY etc for external usage The legendary GO line compatible with other FAST ComTec products allows for easy synchronization or triggering of other measurement equipment Furthermore a versatile 8 bit digital 1 0 port allows for a whole bunch of experimental control monitoring or whatsoever other tasks Moreover the 8 bit digital I O port can be used for event and spectra tagging to allow for multi detector configurations sequential data acquisition etc 3 2 Front Panel Connectors 3 2 1 Analog ADC Inputs The analog ADC inputs are 4 BNC type connectors on the front panel of the MCA4 Each
39. with the CTRL key The MPANT window must be the active on the desktop and have the focus i e it must be the top window IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 81 MPANT Software Status bar With this menu item the Status bar at the bottom of the MPANT main window can be switched on or off A corresponding check mark shows if it is active or not The Status bar usually shows if an acquisition is active When the left mouse button is pressed while the mouse cursor is within a toolbar icon it displays a short help message what the meaning of the toolbar icon is Status window The status window at the left side of the MPANT main window can be shown in a small or large size or can be hidden Save As Saves all parameters defined in the Options menu to the MPANT CFG or a user defined config file Open Loads a new configuration 5 5 Action Menus Start L The Start toolbar button erases the data and starts a new measurement The Halt toolbar button stops a measurement Continue e The Continue toolbar button continues a measurement Erase X The Erase toolbar button erases the data If more than one systems are defined for starting and stopping combined MCAs together more groups of start halt continue erase icons appear in the toolbar for the respective systems 82 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH MPANT Software DOE File Window Region Options Action Action2 Action3 Action iE eise LA wiel dell ease ES le Ae
40. x 100ns 10us or 100kHz H MPANT MCA4 EEN File Window Region Options Actioni Action2 Action3 Action 3 BIBS edel et LA miii Cell dose em ES Ee e Beleko gt mila F1 F2 F3 F4 rsre rz ra FFF HIZ E ON 2 280 000 260 000 240 000 220 000 200 000 180 000 160 000 140 000 120 000 100 000 80 000 60 000 40 000 20 000 ol 50 0 TotalSum 2 247 468 Start Time 02 26 2015 20 52 48 Acquisition DN Fig 2 22 Simple MCS spectrum IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 21 Installation procedure 2 6 Installing more than one MCA4 Module The software is able to operate up to 6 MCA4 modules with a single computer Just connect them at an USB port switch on the power and install the driver when you are prompted When starting the software you will be asked to edit the MCAA INI file as more than one MCA4 modules are found and the notepad editor will be automatically started with MCAA INI loaded Edit the line devices 1 accordingly and save the file BER File Edit Format View Help Set devices to number of McA4 modules connected max 6 dev ces 2 set chnum to number of ADC input channels for each module C0 Ai chnums4 4 4 4 4 4 set res to ADC resolution for each module 3 64k 2 8k l 24k G 2k PES 54 54 5559595 The status 1s read out every updaterate msec if possible updaterate 10 00 Fig 2 23 Editing MCA4 INI That is all you have
41. 0266 2 ae0c0000000266 3 ae820000000266f1 ae850000000573a1 ad500000000573b2 ae0e0000000573a3 48 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Software Description The software adds at the end of a list file a small data block containing the counter values The format follow the scheme of scope mode data it can be distinguished by the waveform length that is only 12 16 bit words The lowest two bits 0 and 1 are the channel number 0 3 for ADC1 ADCA Bit 3 indicates scope mode It is on so more data words follow Bit 4 47 are zero Bit 48 63 are the length of the counter data minus one in units of 16 bit words This size value is 11 or in hex format b for 12 16 bit words or 3 64 bit counter data The counter data follow then next real time live time and event counter The counter data are 64 bit values Here is an example of a counter data block 0005000000000008 0000000007735943 00000000075aacad 0000000000002710 0005000000000009 0000000007735943 00000000075aaed3 0000000000002710 000b00000000000a 0000000007735943 00000000075ab725 0000000000002 720 000500000000000Db 0000000007735943 00000000075aaf24 0000000000002710 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 49 Software Description 4 3 Control Language A sequence of commands that are stored in a file with extension CTL can be executed by the MCAA server program or MPANT with the Load or Run command Also the configuration files MCA4A SET or the header files with extension MP contain suc
42. 03 05 2015 15 26 54 380 15330 16000 d 16010 15020 245 258 242 461 1 14 181 481 TotalS talSum 50 732 ursol Start Time 03 05 2015 16 26 54 Counts 25860 25870 TotalSum 4 61 Start Time 03 05 2015 16 26 54 25890 25900 Acquisition OFF 4 25910 5190 5200 5210 5220 5230 25000 51 421 03 05 2015 16 26 54 25010 25020 25030 25040 25050 25060 25070 25080 25090 scit TotalSum Start Time Counts Naa Ree 40 0059 30 000 20 000 10 000 D 15030 16040 16050 16060 16070 5140 5150 5160 5170 5180 5190 5200 5210 5220 5230 TotalSum 52 131 Start Time 03 05 2015 16 26 54 24960 TotalS 5 2 24970 um 57 Start Time 03 05 2015 16 26 54 25820 25930 25940 25950 24390 25000 25010 25020 25030 25040 25050 25060 Fig 7 5 Typical peak widths of Gaussian fitted pulses 32k range Aus shaping 7 4 3 Multichannel scaler Dwell time modes Internal dwell time External channel advance Trigger uncertainty Trigger START delay Count STOP delay Dead time Sweep repetition time Differential non linearity Sweep counter Sweep counter preset range Spectrum sequencing End of sequence dead time IMF FIST ComTec GmbH internal auto external 1 channel MCS 2 channel MCS sitet c sees min 50 ns SEENEN max 2 1 x 10 ns 32 days UU IA e NR DNE 10ns min 30 ns edge sensitivity E rising falling period inter
43. 2 to make it the active window in MPANT Select Options Scale parameters or click ep and set the Counts Range to 0 65535 and deselct Auto scale and Minimum auto scale ref Fig 2 10 Press OK This makes sure we will see the full 16 bit ADC conversion range x Counts Range Maximal e5535 Minimal fo Auto scale Minimum auta scale Counts Scale Linear Logarithmic Color scaling Linear Ce Logarithmic Adapt Color ee Fig 2 10 Scale parameters for the scope display After activation of the spectrum display a 1 2 in Fig 2 12 again select Options Scale parameters and enable Autoscale ref Fig 2 11 Press OK IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 15 Now select Action1 Start or click and start our first measurement RB halts the measurment Installation procedure Scale Parameters X Counts Scale Counts Range HM asimal 277 Minimal ja W Auto scale orum auta scale Linear C Logarithmic Color scaling Linear Logarithmic Adapt Color Fig 2 11 Scale parameters for the spectrum display 218 xl Action3 Actiont BE t3rk 3ole 2 affe E 486 Bes E SENE F4 F2 F3 F4 Fs re rz ra Fa FtoFtt Ft TEST Ke com 8 000 mv 7 000 6 000 5 000 4 000 3 000 2 000 1 000 n 1 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240
44. 250 260 psec 0 0 Ba 40 TotalSum 754 193 956 Cursor 12093 E 744 usec va lue 2633 11 023 mi mV 250 S n A 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 2250 2500 2750 3000 3250 3500 3750 4000 4250 4500 4750 5000 5250 5500 5750 6000 6250 6500 6750 7000 7250 7500 7750 Tot sis 43 Sta LES 2015 14 08 38 A In the upper client window A1 you see the scope picture of our square wave while in the lower a 1 the Fig 2 12 1st scope measurement spectrum of the analysed pulse height is displayed Holding the left mouse button in a display window does set and move the cursor which values are shown just below the x scale Hold the right mouse button to spread a range selection which can be used to zoom into the window If the trigger threshold was not chosen properly and no sampling begins then select Trigger auto Measure the sampled signal by holding the left mouse button and use the cursor values below the scope window x scale to find a good value for the trigger threshold and revert to normal CH1 trigger Looking at Fig 2 12 one can easily see the square wave had an amplitude of some 4 8V with little over and undershoot at the edges The amplitude was stable enough which can be seen from the narrow peak needle in the lower pulse height analysis spectrum 16 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Installation procedure An additional feature is the provision of a Fast Fourier Transformation This shows the input signal in the frequency domai
45. 4 SCA Lower Upper jo e5535 Threshold mv 1080 PHA advanced Settings Get Zera 2798 Shaping 4 us D C Gaussian Flattap Ce Maximum Scope Mode Scope Mode SA Mode Ester Trigger SwA Maode T agbits G T agbits E Ce Dne Hot Binay Don t show Pulse Width Pulse width Histogram Apply Cancel ADC Settings and Presets El xl Chri a 1 sl Bange 16384 Set All Gate Dont Use sl W Enable Bipolar voltage range Alimepreset s fiooo 000 LTimepreset s jooo Countpreset R lpreset ROI min max p 15384 VPP mJ i o820 SCA Lower Upper In e5535 THL hysteresis 30 LSBs Threshold mv 100 0 GetZero 2758 PHA Width min mas ES P 50 Shaping 4 uz Fit width 41 I Count only stored events Jh advanced Settings I Dither enable Ce Gaussian Flattop C Maximum Pile up reject Scope Mode Scope Mode SA Mode Estem Trigger SVA Mode Pulse width Pulse width Histogram Apply Cancel Fig 4 9 Left Setting Tag bits right advanced Settings If you check advanced Settings more options will appear for the PHA parameters Dither enable should be always checked It improves the differential linearity of the ADC VPP mV is the voltage corresponding to the full range of the ADC from 0 to 65535 LSB s You can change it if you have a calibrated value for example by connecting a DC voltage t
46. C Sets the region shape to a rectangle with arbitrary dimensions To enter the rectangular region press the right mouse button drag a rectangle and release the button to define the region X Slice Sets the Region shape to the rectangle with maximal height Y Slice Sets the Region shape to polygonal To enter a polygonal Region using the mouse press the right button for each point the TAB key for a next polygon and the END key to close it Circle lO Sets the Region shape to circular To enter a circular Region using the mouse click the right button at the center move the mouse and press the END key to finish Annular e Sets the Region shape to annular To enter an annular Region using the mouse click the right button at the center and first circle and press the END key at the second circle Pie lo Sets the Region shape to pie To enter a pie Region using the mouse click the right button at the center and first radial end point press the END key at the second radial line end point Create B The Create menu item creates a new ROI from the current marked Region IR ES D e D By selecting the Delete menu item or the respective icon the current active ROI is deleted and the previously defined ROI is activated Edit With the Edit item a dialog box is opened which enables editing the ROI list i e create a new or delete change and activate an existing ROI Also the peak values for an automati
47. CA 5041 M ESSA T SEA jSC42 Goad 5C54 e Setup name WA Browse F Cancel Apply Load sett Save Fig 5 20 Settings dialog Data m H The Data Operations dialog allows to edit format settings and to load and save spectra data ref 4 1 3 BER Filename TEST mpa Browse v Save at Halt Save Load Ge MPA p E Selected Spectra Farmat Erase Ee fasc Listmode Write Listfile NoHistogramming Drop zero events Replay Cancel Save Sett Fig 5 21 Data Operations dialog 78 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH MPANT Software System Definition x GO Line Mot active System 1 System 2 System 3 System 4 Watch High at Start Low at Stop EE ESSERI RES C Push Pull f Open Drain lt lt All lt lt All lt lt All lt lt All Start with Dig4 Go Status Dig 0 3 Invert Yale incr at Stop Jo T agbits Taghits Cancel Save SCH Remote Clear before Start Fig 5 22 System Definition dialog Spectra The Spectra dialog box allows editing the list of calculated and dual parameter spectra see chapter 4 1 9 Dualparameter and Calculated spectra f No CHN Range Type Name Condition Add Multi al a2 256x256 MAP Add Time 10 HTL al 256x256 TIA RATCxa d E 1 ai1 2 16384 Drum DR 30 Add Lalc 12 al 65536 HIS HY a 1 Edit Delete Delete All OF
48. FIST ComTec GmbH 57 Software Description A gt mcatdde vi Diagram Fig 4 27 Getting the data with LabVIEW 4 4 3 Close Conversation After finishing the DDE communication with the server program it must be closed A gt mcaddde vi Diagram Ioj x Fil Edit oe Project Windows Help dE LI LI LI LJ LI LJ UL oe ao 4 LPL LE LL Ld LI LI LL LI Ld UL E a 4 0 4 Fig 4 28 Closing the DDE communication in LabVIEW The following figure shows the Panel of the described VI for LabVIEW 58 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Software Description Fig 4 29 Control Panel of the demo VI for LabVIEW 59 Software Description 4 5 Controlling the MCA4 Windows Server via DLL The MCAA server program provides access to all functions parameters and data via a DLL dynamic link library So the server can be completely controlled by the MPANT software that provides all necessary graphic displays NOTE The complete documented source code of the DLL including a library with fundamental Vl s and an example VI for LabVIEW and an example Visual Basic and C program is available as an option The DLL DMCAA DLL is an interface providing functions to communicate with the server program Most of these functions send messages to the server as you do it when operating the server program by sending Windows messages via mouse clicks Please do not expect any functions in this DLL for controlling the hardware
49. LINE details 3 3 MCA section Analog to Digital Converter The 16bit analog to digital converter samples the input signals at a continous 125MHz rate The data can be evaluated in several ways Each input channel might be configured independently e Scope mode e Pulse height analysis PHA e Sampled voltage analysis SVA 3 3 1 Scope mode After a trigger event scope pictures of 4k 8k 16k or 32k data samples are acquired The trigger source can be chosen from channel 1 2 3 4 or external START input The trigger edge rising or falling is also selectable 26 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Hardware Description The available trigger modes are SINGLE NORMAL and AUTO In SINGLE mode only the first trigger event is displayed In NORMAL mode subsequent trigger events start a new display In AUTO mode the measurement is triggered by real trigger events or in absence of those automatically Note In scope mode a small data FIFO size should be chosen ref Fig 4 6 for better display response For further evaluation FFT and software PHA are available ref chapter 5 MPANT Software Be aware that due to the large number of data being transferred the effective event rate is low compared to a firmware based onboard pulse height analysis Thus the scope mode is mostly for setting up the experiment 3 3 2 Pulse height analysis Onboard firmware based signal evaluation and pulse height analysis allows for high event rates and o
50. LL is loaded first by the Server program and that it is loaded from the same path by all programs using it Otherwise it does not work to access the shared memory The dmcad4 dll is installed by the installation program into the standard Windows folder for 32 bit or 64 bit DLLs respectively Please make sure that there is nowhere else any file dmca4 dll 60 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH MPANT Software 5 MPANT Software The window of the MPANT program is shown here It enables the full control of the MCAA via the server program to perform measurements and save data and shows the data on line in several windows RESMPANT MCA4 File Window Region MEX Time Stabil eise up peru skaei iss E Ee OFF 4346 000 ADC1 7 ADC 1 Real Live Dead Count Total Rate ROI Net 4800 000 4788 000 0 25 3 067 757 3 067 75 0 00 3 062 969 3 034 311 ADC 2 Real Live Dead Count Total Rate ROI Net 3012 000 3000 000 0 40 1 876 718 1 876 718 0 00 1 870 706 1 858 424 F4 F2 F3 Fa FS F6 F Fe Fajrtott Ft2 lol x1 By Turku fallout Chernobyl 3d 35 000 30 000 25 000 20 000 15 000 10 000 5 000 d 1000 2000 3000 4000 TotalSum 3 067 757 0 TotalSum 497 672 Start Time 07 02 1986 12 14 32 Cursor Counts Counts ADC 3 Real 1004 000 Live 1000 000 Dead 0 40 Count 497 672 Total 497 672 Rate 0 00
51. M Use Calibration Cancel Fig 4 19 Sum of Counts dialog 44 IMF AST ComTec GmbH Software Description In the Sum of counts dialog you can select which ADCs will contribute to the superdetector It is recommended to enable Use Calibration and to perform a careful calibration of all selected ADC s Make a short acquisition using a pulser or a calibration source so you get a peak in each used ADC In each ADC zoom into the spectrum then by keeping the right mouse button pressed drag from left to right over the peak to mark a fit region and click on the Fit toolbar icon to make a Gaussian peak fit Note the position value of the peak in the first ADC For the first ADC you can just enable Use Calibration in the calibration dialog and use the standard parameters pO 0 p1 1 In the next ADC enter two calibration points for the first point enter 0 for the Channel and 0 for the value and click Add gt gt For the second calibration point use the result of the fit Click Fit to enter the Channel value of the fitted peak position For the Value enter the fit result of the peak position in the first ADC Click Calibrate and enable Use Calibration then click OK Proceed this way until all used ADCs are calibrated You will immediately get the effect Instead of a peak multiplet you will see a single sharp peak in the sum spectrum LII M U u pls File Window Region Options Actioni Act
52. MCA4 4 Input Multichannel Analyzer 2 Input Multichannel Scaler User Manual Copyright FAST ComTec GmbH Grunwalder Weg 28a D 82041 Oberhaching Germany LES ELS FAL E wm e 4 f t j 1E e Mi Mee Me Apc 9 4pc2 9 ances 9 9 start 9 9 stop 9 9 stop2 CHADV FEATURE VO I FAST ComTec GATE 1 GATE 2 GATE 3 GATE 4 M E A A Version 1 11 December 14 2015 Software Warranty FAST ComrTec warrants proper operation of this software only when used with software and hardware supplied by FAST ComTec FAST ComTec assumes no responsibility for modifications made to this software by third parties or for the use or reliability of this software if used with hardware or software not supplied by FAST ComTec FAST ComTec makes no other warranty expressed or implied as to the merchantability or fitness for an intended purpose of this software Software License You have purchased the license to use this software not the software itself Since title to this software remains with FAST ComrTec you may not sell or transfer this software This license allows you to use this software on only one compatible computer at a time You must get FAST ComTec s written permission for any exception to this license Backup Copy This software is protected by German Copyright Law and by International Copyright Treaties You have FAST ComrTec s express permission to make one archival copy of this software for backup protection You may not o
53. MCS IMPUN ceasienicwsndsomsdenanitdanmedncciednintedidenasicasdeiecds max 0 25 W 7 2 Recommended Operating Conditions Power supply Operating temperature range GO Line load Digital I O input voltage 7 3 Specifications 7 3 1 ADC inputs Input impedance Input voltage range 8V option Input voltage range 10V option 7 3 2 GATE MCS inputs Input impedance selectable Input voltage range Input threshold voltage Pulse width high low Frequency Slew rate requirement 4 respect maximum input power limit EE nominal 12 V c 15 W voltage 521919 ERROR TAM us EVA e 0 to 50 C HO min 1 KQ to 5 0 V s t min 2 kO to GND 0 3 3 V 3V ON ee 1 07 KQ 10V standard m nu nawa nunu nia 1 33 KQ UA 1 nominal 0 8 V WI TE nominal 4 V Dill elei WEE nominal O 10 V DION AMR ueen ee nominal 5 V qe Cp 50 Q LO ONDO WT EE 4 7 KQ positive TTL slow NIM 0 3 3V 5 V compatible negative fast NIMM 0 800mV positive TTL slow NM 1 3V negative fast NIM snannnennnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnosnnesnrrnerennnnennrsernrsrreenne 300mV MCS START and CHANTAL min 1 0 ns MCS STOP ANG 2 iia min 0 8 ns MCS START and CHADV annaannnon
54. Setting amp Dans e Time Param RTE B ns Range 16384 v Time Differences Ret Param ADC2 Time Offset Jo Unit n2 g Time Bin size e Unit Ins M Name RTC al Zoom IT Offset Compr by 2 Jo Compr by 2 n Cancel Multi Time Display Setting Param AT 1 ms m Range 16384 Faram JAD C Range 256 Param JAD C1 Range 256 Time Differences Time Offset jo Unit msec Time Bin size LEN Urt msee l Name RT va oor vy Offset Compr by 2 n Jo Compr by Ze Cancel zoom zaam Fig 4 17 Multi Time Display Setting left with installed RTC option and right without RTC option Press Add Time to define a new Time spectrum in the Multi Time Display Settings dialog For the x Axis and y Axis a parameter and range must be chosen from the respective drop down list The time axis can be either the x Axis or the y Axis select the respective radio button The time parameter can be either a 1 msec Real time or the 8 nsec RTC clock if the respective option is available Define the Time Offset and Time Bin size in the corresponding edit fields and Unit selection boxes A Name can be entered for the new time spectra or you can left the Name edit field untouched to choose an automatically generated name like RTC xa 1 The checkbox Time Differences enables recording time spectra relative to an event in any selected ADC For zoomed Maps
55. T program You should get a view of the waveform of your pulses If you now go back into the ADC Settings dialog a new button guess will appear beside the Shaping listbox in the PHA box If you click that button a recommended value for the shaping time will be selected to get a first choice for the PHA parameters The trigger source in Scope Mode can be selected between Software CH1 CH2 CH3 CH4 and Extern START Software means that an event will be triggered by the software as often as possible Extern Trigger means a signal connected at the START GATE1 input When using the Extern trigger new edit elements appear in the SVA Mode Extern Trigger box for the Polarity Impedance and Edge of the START input discriminator The Trigger Mode can be Normal Auto and Single Shot Auto means that a software trigger will be done if no trigger event is detected Single Shot means that the acquisition is stopped after a single trigger event To do this an event count preset of 1 is set Check SVA Mode if you want to do a sampled voltage analysis In this mode an external trigger signal samples a voltage conversion The same trigger parameters like polarity impedance edge can be set as for the external trigger For ADC1 the START GATE1 input is used for ADC2 the STOP1 GATE2 input and so on SVA mode disables automatically Scope Mode and PHA in the PHA box Maximum will be selected The 8 Digital I O ports Feature connector can be
56. a4a set Runs a sequence of commands stored in controlfile This command cannot be nested i e it is not possible to execute a run command from the controlfile called with a run command only if it was called with a load command The command is executed always after a start action when the acquisition is already running The command can be any valid command also run controlfile is possible Switches off the onstart feature Also a manual Stop command Switches it off The command is executed always after a stop caused by a preset reached or trigger This can be used to program measure cycles For example the command onstop start makes a loop of this kind Switches off the onstop feature Also a manual Stop command Switches it off The command is executed in sequential mode after each cycle can be used together with waitpin command to synchronize with a beam or target mover Switches off the oncycle feature Defines the file count for the last run in a measure cycle file with this count or greater was saved with autoinc on After a instead of the onstop command the onlast command is executed Defines the file count for the last run in a measure cycle The last count is the present one plus the numruns number After a file with this count was saved with autoinc on instead of the onstop command the onlast command is executed The
57. advance is supported via the corresponding CHADV input Please note that the external channel advance signal is internally synchronized to a free running 100MHz clock An integrated control circuitry assures the minimum cycle time of 100ns thus guaranteeing no triggering on too fast ringing or spiky signals 3 4 3 Sweep counter The presettable sweep counter is 48 bit wide and increments on each valid START trigger event 3 4 4 Spectrum sequencing Sequences of spectra consisting of a preset number of sweeps may be automatically generated The number of sequences is in the range of 2 to 65536 When the preset number of sweeps is accumulated the sequence counter is incremented and a new set of sweeps is started 30 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Software Description 4 Software Description The software is a layer of several parts A driver MCS6 SYS provides the communication via the USB port A server program MCA4 EXE controls the hardware and the data A graphical user interface MPANT EXE controls the server via a DLL DMCAA DLL and provides graphical displays This chapter describes now the server program The window of the MCA4 server program is shown here It enables the full control of the MCA4 to perform measurements and save data This program has no own spectra display but it provides via a DLL dynamic link library access to all functions parameters and data The server can be completely controlled from the MPANT softwar
58. al Converter 26 ORO Tero 0 Aa eebe 26 3 3 2 Pulse height ana EE 27 3 3 3 Sampled voltage analysis 29 3 3 4 Single channel analyzer CAL 29 3 3 5 Real time live time and event COUNTED 0 cece cece cecececececeee cece eeeeeaeeeaececeeeceeeeueneeeeeeeeeeeenaeaenaeaenneas 29 92 045 Just MOOS dala aC CU ISIN IA 29 3 3 7 Event tagging spectrum multscalmg 29 EE AA TETTE 29 SE IM SAU loas 29 E RE len E 30 04 5 e ge EE 30 3 4 4 Spectrum SEET egenen ed conte n uRe Qo plu qu EQUEU FD ano cs nanunua nuna nununana enee eege ee 30 4 SoftWare TICS CIO OM TNNT mom 31 A Server eet 31 zu a VE UE rein NEE 31 2 Su INA ere Ba E LEE ER ae A WE En 0 EE ER E ee Ee 34 May MO Or OO UNC REOR 35 BA VO SS e NORTE 36 2 1 7 Fulseswidibi VUE e ele lun e RTE 40 A Mise SUSI AA Te METTE 40 e Nee HIER eer Re ee DEE 42 MN og e 3 E 46 AL FIG eu E 48 4 3 Control LANGUAGE EE 50 4 4 Controlling the MCA4 Windows Server via DIE 56 4 4 1 Open CGonmversaton sese nisi ss sa sr seasisea sese sane seres is 56 dda DDE EXECU MEET 56 4 4 3 Close e e BEE 58 4 5 Controlling the MCA4 Windows Server via DI 60 S MPANT SON WAN 6 61 S a H 62 92 WINdo Miu T 65 EN LOND MONU ra T c
59. alues will be taken Any such calculated spectrum can be used as a parameter for a new dual parameter spectrum If Conditions are defined one can be selected as a necessary Condition for incrementing a channel in this spectra For ADC inputs in addition the Pos Range right left right formula is available that is often used for position dependent detectors read out from both sides and the Division formula Div Range left right can be used to divide two spectra The Range and Name can be defined in the edit fields or default values will be taken Any such calculated spectrum can be used as a parameter for a multi parameter spectrum If Conditions are defined one can be selected as a necessary Condition for incrementing a channel in this spectra The COPY type of spectra allows to set conditions for copies of primary ADC spectra History allows to display a history plot of an ADC as a new spectrum i e you can see the data of the ADC as they come in versus the event number The length of the history plot can be defined free just edit the Range number Wrap around lets the history plot start new from the left overwriting the old curve when the right end is reached Spectra containing the sum of counts from several ADC s can be used to create a superdetector from multiple smaller detectors The sum spectrum is calculated from the complete single spectra Select the Or Sum of counts radio button Sum of Counts X i gg Iv fv Iv Iv
60. and select Update driver from the drop down menu How do you want to search for driver software gt Search automatically for updated driver software Windows will search your computer and the Internet for the latest driver software for your device unless you ve disabled this feature in your device installation settings Browse my computer for driver software Locate and install driver software manually Fig 2 2 Driver Installation Cancel Windows offers to search automatically for updated driver software or browse the computer for the driver software Don t try the automatic installation it will probably not work Select to browse manually for the driver and select for example for Windows 7 or 8 the wdmdriv win7 folder on the CD or Software stick 10 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Installation procedure Select the folder that contains drivers for your hardware b ga WOWI E E 425 Removable Disk F b di catalog b i htm i manuals jS SanDisk 4 i w dmdriv p AR Server p A vista J win2k Ji win Ui ia64 d x64 Ju x86 Fig 2 3 Choosing the right folder Please don t go deeper into the folder structure the processor type x86 x64 etc is found automatically After pressing OK the driver installation will proceed The device manager will then show a FAST ComTec MCS6 USB Driver in a class FAST ComTec USB Device as shown in Fig 2 4 File Action View Help e 9 el OH EP LI 22 Computer Ma
61. are IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 9 Installation procedure 2 2 Driver Installation To install the driver please start the device manager You can do it by right clicking the computer shortcut on the desktop and selecting Manage from the drop down menu then Device Manager Another way is to select in the Start Menu Settings Control Panel then System Device Manager File Action View Help all Hale amp Computer Management Local 4 System Tools Task Scheduler i Event Viewer a Shared Folders gt Local Users and Groups amp Performance a Device Manager 4 53 Storage ts Disk Management ze Services and Applications bk Audio inputs and outputs bb Computer gt Ca Disk drives amp Display adapters Aj DVD CD ROM drives eld Floppy disk drives R Floppy drive controllers ss Human Interface Devices C IDE ATA ATAPI controllers ZA Imaging devices amp Keyboards A Mice and other pointing devices b K Monitors gt amp Network adapters Dp Other devices Da MCA 4 Ports COM amp LPT gt fp Print queues de Printers D Processors fi Sensors gt Software devices Sound video and game controllers lt gt Storage controllers p P System devices Universal Serial Bus controllers dh WSD Print Provider Fig 2 1 Device Manager CVICC Manager More Actions The new device is displayed as MCA 4 in a class Other devices Please right click it
62. ave the ROI using the toolbar icon Create new ROI El Advance the selected ROI to the next or previous one using the or key from the numeric keypad The ROI boundary is displayed by lines or circles and the ROI area can in addition be displayed in inverted color by enabling the checkbox Invert ROI Pixel in the MAP Display options dialog The sum and net sum of counts within the selected ROI is displayed The net sum is calculated by subtracting a background integral by summing line integrals S y for each y coordinate using the mean value of the counts at the lowest and highest x coordinate of the ROI n O o 3 The Zoom item or respective icon enlarges a Region to the maximum Spectrum Display size Back ep rc The Back menu item or clicking the corresponding icon restores the last zoom view Each time a Back command is clicked the view is stepped back one step Zoom Out E The Zoom Out menu item or clicking the corresponding icon enlarges the actual zoom view by a factor 2 if possible You can also use a mouse wheel for zooming in at out L O 3 D Clicking the Home menu item or the corresponding icon restores a Display to the basic configuration showing the complete spectrum Shape Selecting the Shape menu item opens a sub menu with the items Rectangle X Slice Y Slice and Rectangle Polygon Circle Annular and Pie to choose the ROI shape 66 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH MPANT Software Rectangle ptt DO
63. ay window can be created and shown as the active window In the Open New Display dialog box the spectrum for the new display can be selected Open New Display Range Mame 4096 ADC 8 32 Turku fallout Chermobyl 3day 4096 Single A 256125 MEGO 128x128 Pillay Cancel Fig 5 3 File New Display dialog Open All By selecting the Open All menu item all available Displays are shown The windows of the last opened Display become active Close All By selecting the Close All menu item all Display windows are closed IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 63 MPANT Software Compare The Compare menu item opens a dialog that enables to show two spectra with different colors in the same window The active display window can be checked as a primary window and there is a list of other spectrum windows that can be inserted as secondary windows Compare Display list Displays to be compared Adde ADU 3 lt Remove Add All gt OF Cancel Iv ADC 8 Fig 5 4 Compare dialog Using the features of the software it is possible to create a shifted spectrum that has a characteristic peak at the same place as the primary spectrum see 4 1 9 This way a view as shown in Fig 5 5 can be created FAMPANT MCA4 ADC1 8 E Bl x 4 Elle Window Region Options Actionl amp ctionz Actions Actions 2 3 File Window Region Opti Action1 x MISES eue fe Am OA eee EE Asc ES EE Ee gt m
64. be high to trigger an event ANTI means that the level must be low A pull up resistor in COINC mode and a pull down resistor in ANTI mode lets the input work if no gate input is connected see 3 2 2 The gating is evaluated at the time of the threshold crossing Set All sets the range and Gate mode for all ADC s zig BER Chr fa 1 VM Chri 1 ki es v seat DNE Droa v Seal oi rj Dort Use M Enable advanced Settings Alimepreset 1000 00 sec LTimepreset 1000 00 sec Countpreset R lpreset ROI min mas o 16384 SCA Lower Upper o 65595 Threshold mv e PHA Shaping Jag TES d C Gaussian Maximum Scope Mode Scope Mode SA Mode Estem Trigger SV Mode Tagbits Tagbits UK Apply Cancel Dont Use sl M Enable advanced Settings Alimepreset 1000 000 sec LTimepreset 1000 00 sec Countpreset R lpreset Fl min max o 16384 SCA Lower Upper o E5535 Threshold mw 100 0 Get Zero 2762 PHA Shaping O3us gt Gaussian Flattop C Maximum S cope Made IW Scope Made 4096 d CH le Rising edge Trigger Normal Falling edge SV A Made Ester Trigger SVA Mode Taghit Tagbits Ok Apply Cancel Fig 4 8 ADC Settings dialog right Scope mode 36 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Software Description If the checkbox ROlpreset is or Countpreset marked the measurement wil
65. c calibration can be entered here A ROI can be edited and added to the list It can also be made to the Active ROI that is the special ROI that is used by the server program to calculate the events within this ROI and look for an event preset The ROI list can be cleared and it can be written into a file with extension CTL which can be directly loaded into the server to restore the ROI list IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 67 MPANT Software Rectangular Regions of Interest of ADCT 11 NH X Edit rectangular Regions of Interest of Pillay 6 4 x Selected ROI Calibr Peak Name Selected AOI Calibr Peak Name E ES 237 ja Co i 35 RR OE S b be nl Mm 2x42 M bir zi Cancel y e me p wp y ng UN 157 0 256 0 Clear All d 3j 2 3 I rectangle 283 207 0 Pod 136 pena Clear All 353 EIS 0 551 BAI 0 Add BL Ble 0 Be Add 843 H 0 Madi 1112 1121 0 Wem EE 1121 1133 0 MOO 1444 1453 661 6 Ca137 Dees 1783 ES D xl SES Delete Active ROI Make Active See Mm May mm 4096 Save as Save as Fig 5 7 Slice and rectangular ROI Editing dialog Clicking on it in the ROI list can change the selected ROI In the MPANT spectrum display the total and net sum of the selected ROI is displayed ROI names are implemented The name can be entered in the ROI editing dialog Press Modify to insert a new name from the edit field of the selected ROI into the list x Edit Polygonal Regions of Interest
66. check the x Offset or y Offset checkbox and enter a value for the respective Offsets and Compression The Offset point marks the lower left corner of the zoomed map and the Compr by 2 n means the power of two by which the spectra are compressed A value of zero means full resolution For a one dimensional time spectrum just use 1 for the ADC range Press Add Calc from the Map and Calculated Spectra dialog to define a new calculated single spectrum in the Calculated Spectrum Setting dialog Depending on installed RTC and Coincidence options this dialog comes up either as shown left or right in Fig 4 18 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 43 Software Description Calculated Spectrum Setting Ce Pos Range right 7 left right C Sum left right Diff Range left right C Div Range left right C Copy left History Calculated Spectrum Setting C Or Sum of counts Coincidence time ps 1 Hu fH story E wrap around right C Or Sum of counts Haam a 2 Param a 1 Range E5536 Hange D ER Name DER Mame Pal si Condition OK Cancel Cancel Fig 4 18 Calculated Spectrum Setting with left and without right RTC and Coincidence options You have a choice between several formulas to combine two parameters Sum left right makes a sum spectrum and Diff Range left right can be used to subtract two spectra The Range and Name can be defined in the edit fields or default v
67. e colors In the Color Palette dialog box the RGB values can be edited or for a 256 color video driver one of the Physical palette colors can be chosen Display ZS The Display menu item or the corresponding icon opens for single spectra the Single view dialog box IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 71 MPANT Software Here the graphic display mode of single spectra can be chosen The Type combo box gives a choice between dot histogram spline and line The Symbol combo box gives a choice between None Circle Triangle down Triangle up Cross Snow flake and Diamond The symbols can be filled by checking Fill error bars can be displayed by checking Error Bar Dot means that each spectra point is shown as a small rectangle or the specified symbol the size can be adjusted with the size combo box Histogram is the usual display with horizontal and vertical lines spline I means linear interpolation between the points and line means vertical lines from the ground to each spectra point If the displayed spectra range contains more channels as pixel columns are available in the video graphic display usually only the maximum value of the channels falling into that pixel columns is displayed But it can also explicitly specified by marking the check boxes Max Pixel Mean Pixel Min Pixel or All which value will be displayed It is also possible to display all three possible Pixel values in different colors that can be chosen in
68. e that provides all necessary graphic displays The view of the server window depends on the number of active input channels here all 4 ADC channels are active BER File Settings Action 1 Action z Action 3 Action Fig 4 1 MCA4 Server Window 4 1 Server functions To start the software just double click a shortcut icon linking to the server program The server program performs a test whether the hardware works well on this computer then starts MPANT and gets iconized Usually you will control everything from MPANT but it is possible to work with the server alone and independently from MPANT 4 1 1 Initialization files At program start the configuration files MCA4 INI and MCA4A SET are loaded Parameters that can be set by editing the MCA4 INI file are the update rate in msec for the refresh of the status and the voltage calibration factors The number of ADC channels and resolution is set automatically The file MCA4A SET contains the default settings It is not necessary to edit this file since it is saved automatically Instead of this SET file any other setup file can be used if its name without the appendix A SET is used aS command line parameter e g MCA4 TEST to load TESTA SET The command line parameter can be used either by calling the program from a DOS box or by changing the properties of an icon on the desktop that points to the program IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 31 Software Description iol File Ed
69. ectra calib Add Suh Ge Selected Spectra Format Erase C New Spectra Format sl Smooth Erase New Spectra Bina Seperate Header aen Listmade Write Listfile NoHistogramming Drop zero events Replay Cancel Save Set Cancel Save Sett Fig 4 3 Data Operations dialog for MPA data left and selected spectra right The menu item File Replay opens the Replay dialog It enables evaluation of list data The Replay software licence is usually programmed into the MCA4 module or by an optional USB dongle x Iw Replay Made Use Modified Settings Filename ED evmcad mcad TESTPEBB Ist n Ge All C Statt Range from 0 000 Preset 0 000 Speed 1000 10 kB sec OF Cancel Fig 4 4 Replay Settings dialog Enable Replay Mode using the checkbox and specify a File name of a list file extension L ST or search one by pressing Browse With the radio buttons it is possible either to choose the complete list file by selecting All or a selected Start Range Specify the sweep range by editing the respective edit fields from and Preset The Replay Speed can be specified in units of 100 kB per sec To Use Modified Settings enable the corresponding checkbox otherwise the original settings are used To start Replay press then Start in the Action menu or the corresponding MPANT toolbar icon The menu item File About opens the About MCA4 window where some information
70. ed they even can be fixed to the entered value by marking the respective check box The Position and FWHM are displayed in channels and also in calibrated units if a calibration is available The area of the Gaussian is also shown For all values also the standard deviations are given The value of Q is the normalized chi 2 To take into account the systematic error of the line shape you may multiply the errors with the square root of Q Click on Save to append a line containing the results to a Log file with the specified name OK closes the dialog and lets the fitted function in the display also if it is refreshed whereas after Cancel the curve no longer will be shown in a refreshed display Options opens a new dialog box to define the information in the log file IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 69 MPANT Software Logfile Options X Header Print in each line Filename ROI number v HUI Sum v HUI Net Sum v ROI Centroid unit v ROI Centroid v Range a b wv Calibrated Position Ask for new logfile New line Filename New line Start time New line Real time 4 Deadtime wv Position channels Iv v Live time Iv v Total Sum vw Peak Area counts w Peak Area counts s wv Calibrated FHM v PWHM channels v Maormalized chi H Print Header Cancel Fig 5 10 Log file Options for the Single Gaussian Peak fit The several quantities are written in standard text format with Tabs as separators and a N
71. eep preset is IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 35 Software Description reached after each individual cycle the acquisition stops until the voltage level at Dig I O 7 gets low If the voltage is still high after 3000 msec a message box will pop up and warn that a time out happened See section 4 3 about more details and on the syntax of control language commands For the MCS Inputs the Polarity can be selected between TTL 1 3 V threshold and NIM 0 3 V signals For each of the MCS inputs you can select between the rising and the falling edge Usually for TTL signals rising edge should be active and for negative fast NIM signals rising edge should be deselected as the leading edge has the better timing OK takes the settings and closes the dialog Apply sets the parameters in the hardware without closing the dialog Cancel closes the dialog and cancels all changes 4 1 6 ADC Settings Clicking the ADC Settings button in the Settings dialog opens the ADC Settings dialog as shown in Fig 4 8 Here all parameters like presets range etc for PHA mode and SVA mode can be set Select the ADC in the drop down listbox at top right The Enable checkbox must be checked if the corresponding channel is active The ADC resolution and length of the spectrum is set by the Range listbox between 2 and 65536 in binary steps For the Gate input there is a choice between Don t Use COINC ANTI and REJ IN COINC means that the voltage level at the Gate input must
72. erential non linearity plot 32k range 50ns dwelltime MCS DNL Distribution 0 10 0 09 0 0896 0 0796 0 06 0 05 0 0496 0 03 0 02 0 01 0 0196 0 0296 0 0396 0 0496 0 0596 0 0696 0 0796 0 0896 0 0996 0 10 DN Fig 7 8 MCS DNL distribution IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Appendix 7 5 Physical Case materia haa ecccaceeseceeeeeeceececeeeceeeessueeseneesens aa E A T E A CC Le E Shipping case EEEEEEEEEEE 7 6 Accessories Included e USB 2 0 A A cable 3m e Power supply 100 240 V 12 Voc 1 5 A DC e Power supply cord 7 7 Trouble Shooting s he POWER ONT LED does not light up 1 check that power is applied to the external power supply 2 check the 12V supply cable is properly plugged in RR aluminum 260 mm x 48 mm x 275 mm SODA 1 7 kg 420 mm x 320 mm x 290 mm 4 kg 3 check that the external power supply works check it s output voltage e The MCA4 is not found by the host computer 1 check that the USB cable is properly plugged in 2 Remove the MCA4 power supply wait until the POWER LED is dark 10s and reapply power IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 91 7 8 Personal Notes 92 Appendix IMF FIST ComTec GmbH
73. es The 32 bit or 64 bit MPANT Windows Software is able to handle 6 MCA4 providing up to 24 MCA channels In field upgrade options enable upgrading of MCS mode more MCA channels 8 ns RTC time tagging and multiparameter coincidences for 2 or 4 ADCs including Replay of list files 8 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Installation procedure 2 Installation procedure 2 1 Hard and Software Requirements For operating the MCA4 you need a standard PC with a high speed USB 2 0 port and Microsoft Windows XP or higher USB 1 0 ports do not work The maximum throughput rate is approximately 32 Mbyte sec This throughput rate is somewhat dependent on the computer hardware and operating system We do not expect any problems with host compatibility as we do not use something else than any USB hard disk or memory stick Of course it is necessary that the PC has a true USB 2 0 port Older PCs that do not have USB 2 0 on the motherboard can use a PCI card providing USB 2 0 ports We have no good experience with such PCI cards the throughput will be much lower typically only 15 20 Mbyte sec And some cards may not work at all So we recommend a computer with true USB 2 0 ports on the motherboard as is now standard even for laptops First check you have all shipped equipment available e Transport case e MCA4 module e Power supply module 100 240 V AC 12 V DC e Power line cord e USB 2 0 A A cable 3 m e User manual e CD or USB stick with operating softw
74. es MCS1 MCS1 parameters active 1 active range 4096 spectrum length MCS2 MCS2 parameters active 0 active range 4096 spectrum length same as MCS1 range CHN 1 Scopemode Channel 1 parameters active 0 active range 4096 waveform length CHN2 active 0 range 4096 CHN3 active 0 range 4096 CHN4 active 0 range 4096 ADC 1 ADC1 parameters active 1 active range 16384 spectrum length prena 0 bit O realtime preset enabled bit 1 livetime preset enabled bit 2 Event preset enabled bit 3 ROI preset enabled roimin 0 lower ROI limit for ROI preset roimax 16384 upper limit roimin lt channel lt roimax evpreset 1 ROI preset or event count preset rtpreset 1000 000 real time preset sec Itbreset 1000 000 live time preset sec bitshift 2 bit shift between ADC LSB s and spectrum resolution caloff 0 000000 calibration parameter offset calfact 1 000000 calibration parameter factor calfact2 0 calfact3 0 calunit keV calibration unit caluse 0 bit 071 use calibration higher bits calibration formula ADC2 the following section concerns parameters of ADC2 The following commands perform actions and therefore usually are not included in the MCA4A SET file 52 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH start halt cont erase savecnf savempa loadmpa addmpa submpa MC A MC B savedat loaddat adddat subdat smooth erase exit alert Message waitin
75. ewline character at the end of each line so the file can be read with standard calculation programs like EXCEL Click on Print Header to write a header line Fit ROIs With the Fit ROIs item for all ROl s a Single Gaussian Peak Fit is performed and the results are dumped into the log file Auto Calib Makes a Gauss fit for all ROI s in the active Display for which a calibration value was entered in the ROI editing dialog and performs a calibration using the fit results You have then only to check use calibration in the calibration dialog opened with to use it 70 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH MPANT Software 5 4 Options Menu The Options Menu contains commands for changing display properties like scale colors etc hardware settings calibration and comments Colors The Colors menu item or respective icon opens the Colors dialog box Colors Colors Single digplay Display item Desktop Window Set Display item color Palette colors Color numbers Palette Map 32 hi 31 RS Save Saves Retrieve j Cancel Fig 5 11 Colors dialog It changes the palette or Display element color depending on which mode is chosen The current color and palette setup may be saved or a new one can be loaded Physical Color selection Cancel Red Green na 13 ALLE Blue Fig 5 12 Color Palette dialog To change on of the colors select Palette colors and click on one of th
76. fo 5000 Message beep delay 4000 pulse 100 waitpin 4000 waitpin3 4000 Software Description Clears the data and starts a new acquisition of system 1 Further execution of the CTL file is suspended until any acquisition stops due to a preset otops acquisition of system 1 if one is running Continues acquisition of system 1 If a time preset is already reached the time preset is prolongated by the value which was valid when the start command was executed Further execution of the CTL file is suspended see start Clears all spectra of system 1 Writes the settings into MCS6A SET Saves all configuration and spectra data An existing file is overwritten Loads mpa data the filename must be specified before with a command mpanamez Adds mpa data to actual spectra the filename must be specified before with a command mpanamez Subtracts mpa data from actual spectra the filename must be specified before with a command mpaname Sets actual input channel to MC A STOP1 for the rest of the control file Sets actual multichannel analyzer to MC B STOP2 Saves data of actual channel as separated spectrum extension MP An existing file is overwritten Loads data of actual channel the filename must be specified before with a command datname Adds data into actual spectra the filename must be specified before with a command datname
77. g COINC and ANTI coincidence is available In SVA mode the selected edge of the GATE signal samples the corresponding ADC input signal In MCS mode these inputs are used as START STOP 1 amp 2 and external channel advance CHADV NOTE For clean switching and oscillation free operation the input slew rate should be higher than 25V us 24 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Hardware Description 3 2 3 FEATURE I O Connector 3 3V 22k 22R s YA GO LINE 3 3V G Socket Mounted GND GND lr TDI Socket Mounted HIT 22R 1 rT 1 18 DIGITAL 100 7 M ye Lt tg tt ott ere TE SS ps p uu uu II 5 12 HLEELE LLE DIGITAL 104 312 FEATURE i EM eS 1 51 ERR EE DIGITAL 105 8 FEATURE O_ p ER HI a a DIGITAL 10s 3 Saa Hp DIGITAL 107 13 CONNECTOR Imm DS nen SCA OUTI 314 2 z f N t ae as al a HEN GND Fig 3 4 Circuit diagram of the FEATURE I O port Single channel analyzer SCA Outputs When a maximum of the sampled analog ADC data is detected the corresponding maximum value is evaluated for lower and upper level thresholds LLD and ULD If the maximum falls in between LLD and ULD the pulse is accepted as valid and a SCA output pulse of 120 ns is initiated Other signals can be selected at the nominal SCA ports 1 SCA 120ns pulse for each valid SCA event 2 ADC BUSY over the threshold OR input FIFO full dead
78. gital input 4 as an external trigger for starting the system DESY control line If the corresponding checkbox Start with Dig 4 is marked a start command for the respective system will not immediately start the system After the start command the digital input will be permanently checked for its logical level If the level changes from high to low the data for the system is cleared and it will then be started It will stop if the level returns to high or vice versa if Invert is marked and can again be restarted with the next level change A stop command for the system will finish the digital input checking By checking Clear before Start the spectra is cleared before the start As an alternative to controlling Start stop via digital input 4 also the GO line can be used by checking Start with GO This is better as the GO line controls the hardware directly The Use of the GO Line is controlled via the 3 checkboxes Watch High when ON and Low at Stop The GO line gates directly the hardware Low at Stop means that the GO line is immediately pulled down by the hardware when a sweep preset is reached or as fast as possible by the software at any other stop If Tag bits are used the digital 1 0 port is used as an input for the tag bits exclusively see chapter 4 1 6 System Definition X GO Line Not active Systemi System 2 System 3 System 4 Watch High at Start Low at Stop H RESI RESI C Push Pull Ce Open Drain lt lt All lt
79. h Rising edge Falling edge v Software PHA RTimepreset 100 000 SEC RrTimepreset 1000 000 zer DE Apply L ancel DK Cancel Fig 2 8 ADC Settings and Presets window 2x Make sure you have no signals connected to the MCA4 inputs Click Get Zero and then Apply to perform a measurement of the input offsets The zero value is expected to be somewhere around 2 500 Since the MCA4 provides bipolar and unipolar input ranges now switch to the other range by selecting advance settings Bipolar voltage range You should hear the internal relay switching when you press Apply New zero offsets are measured automatically after Bipolar Unipolar switching for all channels The zero value offset should be in the magnitude of some 32 000 now ref Fig 2 8 right hand side Switch back to the unipolar input range click Apply and OK and in the MCA4 Settings ref Fig 2 7 dialog on Save to store the measured offset data NOTE A calibration of the internal offsets zero values should be performed at the first startup Please let the MCA4 warm up for some 30 minutes before calibration is performed 2 5 2 Basic Scope measurement This might be the best thing to start with In case you don t know the details of your input signals you have the option to watch and analyze them like with any oscilloscope You will be able to find problems with the setup like ringing or reflections Even defective cables can be identified It is also ea
80. h commands to set the parameters Each command starts at the beginning of a new line with a typical keyword the case is ignored Any other characters in a line may contain a value or a comment Following methods are available to execute commands e Define one of programmable toolbar icons F1 F12 in the MPANT program with the command and click the icon see Options Function keys in the MPANT menu e Load the command file using the Load command in the file menu e Enable remote mode in the server and send commands via the serial connection A special DLL is necessary which is part of the optional available MPANT EXTERNAL CONTROL software e Open a DDE connection and send the commands via DDE as described in section 4 4 The application name for opening the DDE connection with the standard MCA4 server program MCA4 EXE is MCAA the topic is MCA4 Implemented are the DDE Execute to perform any command and the DDE Request with items RANGE and DATA e Send the commands over a TCP IP net using a remote shell and the optional available MPANT EXTERNAL CONTROL software It is necessary to have a TCP IP Winsock installed and that the remote shell daemon program MPA4NET is running See the readme file on the installation disk e Send the commands via the DLL interface from LabVIEW a Visual Basic program or any other application software including the complete source code of the DLL and examples optional available e From your own Windows applicat
81. have the extension Jet and start with a header containing the usual report and configuration data in ASCII as in the mpa or mp files The header ends with a line containing DATA Then follows the data depending on the format chosen for the data file either in ASCII or binary In ASCII format one data word is written in hex format per line In binary format each stop event is written with 8 bytes as usual in the Intel world in the reverse order i e the least significant byte comes first A single event is a 64 bit number 8 bytes or in scope mode a multiple of such 8 byte numbers The lowest two bits O and 1 are the channel number 0 3 for ADC1 ADC4 Bit 2 is a flag for pileup detected Bit 3 indicates scope mode If it is on more data words follow Bit 4 47 is a 44 bit event time If the RTC option is enabled it is in units of 8 ns otherwise in units of 1 msec With tag bits enabled the 8 most significant event time bits are used for tagging and represent the 8 dig I O input bits If pulse width measurement is enabled the most significant 12 bits are used for the pulse width and represent the pulse width at the threshold level in units of 64 ns Bit 48 63 are the 16 bit ADC value or in scope mode the length of the waveform data minus one in units of 16 bit words This size value can be 4095 8191 16383 or 32767 The waveform data follow then next Here is an example of list file data DATA adf 200000002660 ad4f 000000
82. he Single Gaussian Heak Tt 70 SA OO O E 71 5 12 RONG Paleng dialo NENNEN D T Um 71 5 13 Single Display Options dialog WEE 72 5 14 Map Display Options dalog 73 5 15 Isometric Display Options dalog win wanu manunuzi munini ninini 73 SN cM Axis Parameters m 14 5 17 Scale Parameters GlAlOG BEE 15 WAUA DEE 76 SIMU ME AA AA AA WA 77 wa Ia e lee BE 78 SA 1 Data e e dialo EE 78 5 22 System Definition QIANG DEE 79 SI SC CO ME 79 CS CO Le EE 80 SI E AI DEE 80 320 WOON sie OC MN tT 81 5 27 Function keys GUANO e irvine cnatisaadnananneinitnads sitet edm dani EP IR eda Va RR RUE b seliei aud ta cu UA Ec aU Enn P AGUA MCN ENS NrR dE 81 5 28 MPANT with four systems enabled nnne 83 7 1 ADC noise spectrum generated with a ramp generator and Gaussian fit 89 7 2 ADC integral linearity plot for 32k ADC roange nennen nnns 89 7 3 ADC differential non linearity plot for 32k ADC range 89 LA ADC DNE dis lel a qM aan nr nee Nee teen n 89 7 5 Typical peak widths of Gaussian fitted pulses 32k range Aus sbapmg 90 7 6 MCS noise spectrum 32k range SONS dwelltme 91 7 7 MCS differential non linearity plot 32k range 50NS dwelltme esses 91 120 MCS RT e Eege ten m T T 91 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 7 Introduction 1 Introduction The MCAA series is a versatile family of advanced USB connected software controlled Multichannel Analyzers and Multi
83. igure and MCS mode right If more than one MCA module are installed the module A B can be selected in the upper right corner as shown right in Fig 4 6 Via the SCA combo boxes you can specify the signal you want to observe at the feature connector See chapter 3 2 3 You can observe for each channel the SCA ADC BUSY over the threshold GATE Input MCS Input or SVA event signals In PHA mode a List file can be written by checking the corresponding checkbox Write Listfile The data format can be ASCII or binary depending on the format settings in the data operations dialog The FIFO size can be selected between Full 128 Mb Medium 32 Mb and Small 8 Mb For real data acquisition the full size is recommended For adjusting parameters when using Scope mode a small FIFO size is useful as changes can be observed immediately whereas with a full FIFO size they are delayed by several seconds Since firmware version 5 16 On board Histogramming can be selected as an alternative to list mode Then the spectra are directly acquired in the MCA4 RAM In this mode it is possible to exit the software and then even to disconnect the USB cable without affecting a running acquisition When starting later the software the acquisition is still running OK takes all settings and closes the dialog Apply sets all settings without closing the dialog Cancel cancels all changes Pressing Save writes all settings into the file MCA4A SET and MCAA set resp
84. ing the configuration and all spectra at the stop of a measurement The file name can be entered If the checkbox auto incr is crossed a 3 digit number is appended to the file name that is automatically incremented with each saving The format of the data can be ASCII extension for separated spectra ASC binary DAT GANAAS SPE EMSA EMSA and CSV CSV If Separate Header is not checked the Header and data is saved together in a file with extension MP otherwise the file with extension MP contains only the header and the data is written separately into a file with appropriate extension The buttons Save Load and Erase perform the respective operation With Add and Sub spectra can be added or subtracted from the present data The checkbox calibr can be checked to use a calibration and to shift the data then according to the calibration The Smooth button performs an n point smoothing of selected single spectra The number of points to average can be set with the Pts edit field between 2 and 21 Check the Write Listfile checkbox to write a listfile during a run No Histogramming prevents calculating any spectra to save computing time and concentrate the system on writing the list file 32 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Software Description Data Operations al x Data Operations a ioj xj Spectra z Filename Filename TEST mpa Browse speci amp Browse M Save at Halt Save Load MPA Save Load C MPA C Selected Sp
85. ion register a Windows message and then send the command as can be seen in the DLL source code The file MCAAA SET contains a complete list of commands for setting parameters An example is MCA4A 104 Device and serial number samplemode 1 Of bit 0 3 chn1 4 0 scope mode 1 phamode bit 4 7 chn1 4 pile up reject bit 8 Software PHA enable dither 1 enable dithering improves the differential linearity of the ADC chip pr ena 0 Preset enable flags MCS mode bit 0 runtime preset enabled bit 1 realtime preset enabled bit 2 sweep preset enabled bit 3 ROI preset enabled bit 5 ROI2 preset enabled enb_ch 1 bit0 3 enable ADC chn1 chn4 thr1 ad20c62 gt LOWORD threshold 1 HIWORD zero in 64 bit ADC LSB s thr2 b370cc threshold 2 and zero thr329dcOb6c threshold 3 and zero thr4 9dcOb6c threshold 4 and zero width 1 531ffe LOWORD maxwidth1 samples per pulse HIWORD minwidth 1 width2 531 ffe width3 531ffe width4 531 ffe digio 0 LOWORD Use of Dig I O GO Line bit 0 status dig 0 3 bit 1 Output digval and increment digval after stop bit 2 Invert polarity bit 3 Push Pull output bit 4 Start System 1 with Dig 4 bit 5 Start System 1 with GO bit 8 GOWATCH bit 9 GO High at Start 50 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH digval 0 trigger 6 mcsmode O0 cycles 1 mcspol 10 svapol f dwellunit 0 dwelltime 10 swpreset 10 timepreset 10 000 unipolar 1 event cnt mode fifosize 0
86. ion is to draw in the second spectrum a ROI over the peak by keeping the right mouse button pressed and clicking the Create ROI icon then select Region Edit item from the MPANT menu select the ROI in the list enter the fit result from the first soectrum for the value of the Calibration Peak and click Modify and OK Then choose Region Auto Calib in the MPANT menu The automatic generated spectra name is for example OR 3 C The 3 is here an hexadecimal bit pattern indicating that ADC1 bit 0 and ADC2 bit 1 contribute to the OR sum The C at the end of the name means that Use Calibration is enabled IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 45 Software Description 4 1 10 Conditions If the RTC and Coincidence options are enabled press Conditions from the Dualparameter and Calculated Spectra dialog to define or edit ROI Conditions in the Conditions dialog Ma Spectra HU Name 9 SUMal_ae 1 10391 10426 SUMal ad d 10 SUMas_ad 1 10399 10421 SUMas a4 1 Combine Edit Delete Delete All SE DK Cancel Fig 4 21 Conditions To define a new condition press Add to open the ROI Condition dialog ROI Condition Param 5lIMa1 a2 m NOT in ADI ROI fi 10391 10426 Mame Sumait a2 1 ROIN ame Cancel Fig 4 22 ROI Conditions dialog Here it is possible to define a Condition as an event inside or outside of an ROI in any parameter spectrum i e a calc
87. ionZ Ej ERTE Lie SOD TTE E E ca 5 7 HN E 18 LG een ri rz ra ra J rs ra rz Fa FS FAO Fti F1Q 5 xl ime ps p Selected ROI Calibr Peak Name om Ger Ive n 20 000 Ive B Dead 154 1 fosos 10527 105066 Io Daad 15 Count 62 810 Count 62 810 Total 62 810 10 000 eme vm vg Cancel Total 62 810 Rate 0 00 Clear All Rate 0 00 ROI 62 810 SE ROI 62 810 Net 62 810 10400 10450 10500 Net 62 810 Totalbum 62810 Cursor Add ursor ADC Start Time 03 25 2015 10 18 26 Counts CAD 2 Real 6 281 Modify Real 6 281 Live 6 184 Live 6 184 Dead SS E e Delete Dead 1 54 Count 62 810 Count 82 810 Total 62 810 4 Active ROI Make Acti Total 62 810 Ror 2 m MB o RO 62 810 2 E Net 62 810 0 WS Se Net 62 810 128 MB FIFO 128 MB FIFO 20 000 Tadc 49 9 Tadc Thoard 45 6 Thoard 45 6 T3v T3v T5v 49 3 ol T5v 485 10450 10500 10550 10600 ursor 62 810 ve e Tim e UIS 10 Ge n e g ss sin s 03 25 2015 1018 26 Counts Net 62 810 Mean 3 141 d n 314 ROIR 0001 10908 10527 10436 85 10515 wy Centroid 10517 76 10506 60 Dep 0001 10508 10527 Centroid 10517 76 4 10400 10450 10500 10550 10600 ursor Acquisition OFF Acquisition OFF Fig 4 20 Sum of counts spectrum before and after calibration Another good method to enter the calibrat
88. it Format wiew Help set devices to number of McCA4 modules connected max 6 dewvices 1l set chnum to number of ADC input channels for each module co 4 chnum 4 4 4 4 4 4 set res to ADC resolution for each module 3 64k 2 8k l24k O 2k 3 PEe5 3 45 35 5 4 3 The status is read out every updaterate msec if possible Updaterate 1o00 Fig 4 2 MCA4 ini File 4 1 2 Action menus The server program normally is shown as an icon in the taskbar After clicking the icon it is opened to show the status window Using the Start menu item from the Action menu a measurement can be started In the status window every second the acquired events the counting rate and the time are shown Clicking the Halt menu item the measurement is stopped and via Continue proceeded As it is possible in the System Settings dialog to create up to four systems each containing different MCA s combined for simultaneous starting and stopping there are four Action menus Action1 Action4 4 1 3 File menu Clicking in the File menu on the Data item opens the Data Operations dialog box This dialog allows to edit the data format settings and perform operations like Save Load Add Subtract Smooth and Erase The Radio Buttons MPA Selected Spectra and New Spectra provide a choice between handling of the complete data set MPA or selected spectra or to load new selected spectra for compare Mark the checkbox Save at Halt to write a MPA file contain
89. k 4x8k 8x4k segments Bit2 3 SEGMENTS CH2 Bit4 5 SEGMENTS_CH3 Bit6 7 SEGMENTS CHA coincidence time in units of 8 ns flattop range for Mean calc LOWORD upper HIWORD lower LOWORD Bit0 13 meanrange Bit 15 14 Method O left 1 cft 2 right HIWORD roileft bit 0 3 GATE ADC1 4 1 Gate must be active for pulse processing bit 4 7 GATE POL 1 4 1 active high bit 8 11 REJECT ADC1 4 1 use GATE as reject e g pile up detected cor GATE ADOCx must be 0 bit 12 15 SVA mode bit 0 3 SCA CH1 0 SCA 1 Over Threshold 2 GATE Input 3 MCS Input bit 4 7 SCA CH2 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 51 Software Description bit 8 11 SCA CHA bit 12 15 SCA CHA autoinc 0 1 Enable Auto increment of filename savedata 0 bit 0 auto save after stop bit 1 write listfile bit 2 listfile only no evaluation bit 5 drop zero events mpafmt asc format used in mpa datafiles dat binary asc ASCII csv CSV soe GANAAS emsa EMSA sephead 0 seperate Header fmt dat data format used in separated spectra extension MP dat binary asc ASCII csv CSV soe GANAAS emsa EMSA mpacaluse 0 use Calibration for shifted summing mpa files according to calibration smoothpts 5 Number of points to average for a smooth operation wndwidth 160 Sets width of server window wndheight 24 Sets height of server window sysdef 0 Defines which module belongs to a system relevant only for more gt modul
90. l be stopped after acquiring more events than specified in the corresponding edit field The Counts are events counted by the hardware that trigger a pulse height analysis whereas the ROI events are counted in the software if the corresponding data in the spectrum are within the ROI boundaries i e gt the lower limit ROI min and lt the upper limit ROI max Another possibility is to acquire data for a given run time via the RTimepreset or a given live time via the LTimepreset A measurement will be stopped if the corresponding checkbox is marked The SCA boundaries can be set with the SCA Lower Upper edit fields Here the units are in LSB s of the 16 bit ADC i e full range is from 0 to 65535 If an event is recorded inside the SCA boundaries a pulse signal can be output at the corresponding monitor output at the feature connector The Threshold for triggering an event can be set in mV an event will be triggered if the voltage level crosses the zero plus threshold level The Get Zero button calibrates the offset voltage level It is recommended to connect no signal when doing this offset calibration The offsets will be saved into the default settings file MCA4A SET by clicking Save in the hardware settings dialog and automatically reloaded when the software is started next time See chapter 2 5 1 As the offset calibration can cause a shift in the spectrum be careful not to do a new Get Zero within a series of measurements The pulse height
91. le g iu 10 For a Lin scale all data intervals have the same size With Log scale the intervals will be small for small y values and large for large y values All options have effect only on the active Display IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 75 MPANT Software Calibration D 4 AD Using the Calibration menu item or the corresponding icon opens the Calibration dialog box xi Use Calibration fw Unit kev Calibration Points Channel Lhannel Value Cursor Fit Add gt gt 1451 72 6617 6 KIPA 2501 24 1173 23 Remove 2992 92 1332 48 Clear All Value po pls 4 06621 0 0626 0 452838 2 be 005 Calibrate Save as Cancel Fig 5 18 Calibration dialog Choose between several calibration formulas Enter some cursor positions and the corresponding values The actual cursor position can be entered by pressing Cursor or the last fitted peak position by pressing Fit Click on Add to insert the calibration position into the list then on Calibrate The obtained coefficients can be inspected together with the statistical error or they can be changed and entered by hand If use calibration is on the calibrated values are displayed together with the channel position of the cursor For MAP spectra the dialog is slightly different and allows to select by two radio buttons between the calibration of x and y axis For a selected parameter there is only one calibration If any ADC is
92. m into this rectangle Rectangular ROI s can be set and the ROlSum and Net ROISum is displayed The Net Sum is calculated the same way like in the single view by subtracting a linear interpolated background from the both outmost channels in x direction This Net sums are then summed up in y direction The ROI editing dialog is changed into a Rectangular Editing dialog for MAP and ISO displays The Cursor can be moved in x and y direction using the mouse and the arrow keys in ISO display only using the arrow keys A status window at the left side gives all information about the status of the MCA4 Below the different counting rates a progress bar shows the filling of the FIFO IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 61 RESMPANT MCA4 File Window Region Options Action Action2 Action3S MPANT Software ll x Actions 2 iE ES eges jet Log le eee Eo Her E Lech OFF MIX Time ADC 1 4946 000 Real 4800 000 Live 4788 000 Dead 0 25 Count 3 067 757 Total 3 057 757 Rate 0 00 ROI 3 062 969 Net 3 034 311 ADC 2 Real 3012 000 Live 3000 000 Dead 0 40 Count 1 876 718 Total 1 876 718 Rate 0 00 ROI 1 870 705 Net 1 858 424 ADC 3 Real 1004 000 Live 1000 000 Dead 0 40 Count 497 672 Total 497 672 Rate 0 00 ROI 481 691 Net 109 892 ADC 4 Real 4956 000 Live 4946 000 Dead 0 20 Count 12 258 170 Total 12 258 170 Rate 0 00 ROI 12 253 224 Net
93. n It helps to find noise pickup or parasitic signal sources that would downgrade experimental results Activate the scope window A1 and click on Options Display or La to get the Single Display Options dailog Fig 2 13 Single Display Options Ei Max Pixel Threshold Mean Pixel Mm De Je All Fil Custom Formula J Eror Bar Dimension Cancel gt gt MAP Fig 2 13 Single display options dialog Here select Custom Formula to get the Custom transformed spectra setup Choose Formula 6 ref Fig 2 14 left side which is the FFT and click Create Custom transformed spectra q X Custom transformed spectra X FFT Formula E Spectra Lenath 32766 Title fft Sur xx Fomula l VS marked by a Tag Bit Spectra Length 4096 Tag Bir 1 4 Save Title Save Cancel Fig 2 14 Setup a FFT analysis This creates a third display window containing the Fast Fourier Transformation data ref Fig 2 15 Most probably you might want to switch the scaling from linear to logarithmic or vice versa use the 5 button w jons ioni Action2 Actions Actiond se S Gries C ir Ec 416 23 e o rim Fig 2 15 FFT analysis display IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 17 Installation procedure 2 5 3 Simple Pulse Height Analysis We already did analyse the pulse height of a square wave signal in the previous chapter Since we
94. n the Scale options dialog of the MPANT program Fig 4 11 Then set Y Slice for the Region Shape by clicking the corresponding toolbar icon and while keeping the right mouse button pressed drag a zooming rectangle over the interesting region at the top of the waveform then click the Zoom in icon amp To define the ROI switch back to X Slice for the Region Shape using the 38 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Software Description corresponding icon 11 Then drag the ROI boundaries from left to right keeping the right mouse button pressed and click the Create ROI icon H To take over the ROI parameters into the flattop PHA click the from ROI button shown in Fig 4 12 There is a choice of anchoring the ROI either at the left edge of the pulse the right edge or the left ROI boundary at a constant fraction between right and left edge by selecting CFT in the listbox The edges are determined by the time when the signal crosses the threshold It depends on the electronics creating the flattop pulses which method of anchoring the ROI gives the best result for a varying pulse height kampani MCA4 ioj x TUM File Window Region Options Action Action2 Action3 Action ESI ES exeo et Lo miti VR le MEE lees inm Eze s Aa em e Seko m IIIA rs re r ra Fajrtortir t 2101 x 0 0 0 2 0 4 0 6 0 8 1 0 1 2 14 1 6 1 8 2 0 2 2 24 2 6 psec TotalSum 6 704 180 Cursor Value Gross 564 376 Net 36 Mean 55
95. nagement Local 4 e Wowi 4 H System Tools Audio inputs and outputs Task Scheduler Ii Computer gt B Event Viewer Disk drives fa Shared Folders WA Display adapters Local Users and Groups DVD CD ROM drives 1 Performance Sg FAST ComTec USB Device g Device Manager 4 ES Storage gt eld Floppy disk drives f Disk Management Floppy drive controllers Es Services and Applications De Human Interface Devices gt Gg IDE ATA ATAPI controllers Z Imaging devices p amp Keyboards gt A Mice and other pointing devices amp Monitors amp Network adapters Y Ports COM amp LPT SEIL More Actions e Print queues ge Printers n Processors Efi Sensors gt Software devices Q Sound video and game controllers lt gt Storage controllers gt Kill System devices gt Universal Serial Bus controllers gt e WSD Print Provider Fig 2 4 Device Manager after successful driver installation Please check the Power Saving Options in the PC Settings If the PC goes to sleep during a running acquisition and shuts the USB port down the software will hang up So it is recommended to disable automatic going to sleep in the energy options IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 11 Installation procedure 2 3 Software Installation To install the MCA4 software on your hard disk insert the installation medium CD or USB Stick and start the installation program setup exe for the 32 bit
96. nally asured ww wwswwmawwanwanwanwamawanwa wa min 100 ns UNE c 5 0 ns EKA 5 0 ns P 45 0 ns 5 0 ns 41 25 ns 1 25 ns zione qM 9 A 10 ns between time bins csssssseesem IH IRR meters ns none R M gt Range 10ns channels 2 32000 50ns dwell time ref Fig 7 7 89 0 20 0 30 0 40 0 50 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 90 a ee eee ee a a a a eee FRR R OEE TE PII T NE Lad ML Md D kal AA dial d dd i L a ae re a ee eee ee ee a ee Appendix MCS Noise Spectrum 13300000 13280000 13270000 T MUTET m tbe Lal soe Matec tof ttm obama h kuchati ala Lil Juni halina da g mTnRTRRTXMEBMYECFUPTPTPI o D 13250000 13240000 a NEM 0 05 0 5 0 ooo MEM 2 AA KA BE E e e Se ee 13210000 ERE 3200000 EE 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000 22000 24000 26000 28000 30000 Channel Fig 7 6 MCS noise spectrum 32k range 50ns dwelltime MCS Differential Non Linearity 0 50 0 40 NN ae ee NN ee E a NEN aa as NA KAA PRT TP PTT mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm AAA 0 30 0 20 0 10 0 00 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000 22000 24000 26000 28000 30000 Channel Fig 7 7 MCS diff
97. ng waa ana nnn nennen nnns 28 3 9 zi inceogej GIinieMaio NT E T m 28 SMS MS UND CLS CU E 29 zm MCA4 Server WINO E 31 zudem NI m 32 4 3 Data Operations dialog for MPA data left and selected spectra right 33 A Eegiel e e EE 33 4 5 About MCA4 dialog box and Installed eme 34 4 6 Settings overview left PHA mode right MCS mode more than one MCA4 module 34 4 7 MCS Settings for one left or two stop inputs rahbi 35 4 8 ADC Settings dialog right Scope mode 36 4 9 Left Setting Tag bits right advanced Gettmgs mumu wunewunawwwa muzima ninini 38 4 10 Setting a ROI in the waveform for the pulse height analysis of flattop pulses 39 4 11 How to switch off Auto Scaling sssssessssssssesseeeeneeeen nennen nnne nnne nnn nenne nnns 39 4 12 Setting parameters for flattop DHA 39 4 13 amu leualeerziMaeMm EE m T 40 4 14 System Definition dialog box 41 4 15 Dual parameter and Calculated spectra dialog box 42 4 16 TU Display SC TUNG EE 42 4 17 Multi Time Display Setting left with installed RTC option and right without RTC option 43 4 18 Calculated Spectrum Setting with left and without right RTC and Coincidence options 44 Z 19 Sum or GCounts dialot EE 44 4
98. ng edge threshold occurs 3 3 6 List mode data acquisition The analyzed data pulse height is patched with additional information like event time TAG bits or pulse width and transferred to the computer in 64 bit words per event 3 3 7 Event tagging spectrum multiscaling The 8 digital I O ports can be used for event tagging as well Each bit is individually selectable The digital I O line reading is continuously updated every 2 5us In PHA mode of operation the digital 1 0 port reading is sampled at the leading edge threshold crossing 3 4 Multichannel scaler 3 4 1 Introduction In MCS mode of operation the MCA4 counts STOP events relative to the START trigger signal The time resolution is equal to the selected dwell time The total measurement time is the spectrum length in time bins multiplied by the dwell time The maximum STOP count rate is 400MHz IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 29 Hardware Description The maximum number of time bins spectrum length is 16M It can be selected in steps of 1 This time granularity allows to optimize the sweep length for the specific experiment Histogramming is performed in the onboard DDR2 memory providing the low dwell times 30 ns 50 ns and high count rates 400 MHz 3 4 2 Dwell time The internal dwell timer provides automatic time bin advancement in the range of min 30ns 1 channel MCS or min 50ns dual channel MCS up to 2 1 x 10ns 781h in steps of 10ns External channel
99. nly little conversion induced dead time The incoming ADC data stream is evaluated for a rising edge threshold crossing which is taken as the start of a pulse The input signal is sampled at 8ns intervals and the data is stored in the 32k input buffer FIFO This 32k buffer FIFO is segmentable in 1 2 4 or 8 equal sized segments This provides for virtually no analysis induced dead time as a new pulse can be stored while a previous is still processed After the input signal fell below the threshold again the pulse sampling is finished and processing begins Optionally a hysteresis for the threshold crossings can be chosen This might improve the spectrum for low amplitudes slowly falling input pulses and high noise levels Each PHA event is tagged with the RTC 1ms or optionally 8ns and if selected the TAG inputs at the pulse start The tagging is executed at the leading edge threshold crossing After detecting a completed input pulse the stored data is checked for the minimum and maximum number of samples This enables to discard false too short and too long pulses ref Fig 3 7 Then the data is evaluated using the selected fitting algorithm PW Min PW Min PW PW Max PW Max PW PW V gt OK gt oo THRESHOLD Pulsewidth Pulsewidth in Pulsewidih Max Pulsewidth Fig 3 7 Pulsewidth check discard false pulses Pulsewidth Min Pulsewidth Max Pulsewidth Absolute maximum none No calculation
100. nnnannnennnsnnnnrnrnsnnrennnnnnnne max 100 MHz MCS STOP Tand EE max 400 MHz A min 25 V us 5 Maximum DC undershoot below GND must be limited to either 0 5V or 10mA During transitions undershoot to 2 0V or overshoot to 7 0V is allowed provided this lasts less than 10ns and with the current is limited to 200mA IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 85 7 3 3 SCA outputs Output voltage at IC pin Output impedance SCA output pulse width 7 3 4 Digital I O ports R Pull R I O Input voltage at IC pin Output voltage at IC pin 7 4 Performance 7 4 1 General DDR2 Memory Memory modes Data throughput ADC data buffer memory Basic operating modes RTC Real Time Clock resolution Reference oscillator Appendix Vos dos ET min 2 4 V MM max 0 4 V Senes cile pM C 22 Q nt TTL EORR ORO RR 120 ns default pull up for n 1 0 kO default series resistor ccccceecccseececeeeeeceeeeeceeeecseueesseeeseeseesaeees 220 min 2 0 V max 0 8 V E e unt a EE min 2 4 V NUM II eee eee er max 0 4 V HU 1Gbit 32M x 32 bit ixi 9 C T O e Listmode histogramming esssesssessesssenneeee nnne Cardmode USB transfer rate e icis rta suain abad aw
101. o the ADC input that is known very well for example by using a good digital volt meter The THL hysteresis can be selected between none 15 LSB 30 LSB and 50 LSB The value means that the voltage level at the input must go below the threshold by the respective value before a new pulse will be triggered The threshold level hysteresis prevents triggering again on spurious signals when crossing the threshold after a pulse The recommended value depends on the noise level a value of 30 LSB is recommended especially for signals that have a slow falling time and when using the Maximum method The Fit width is the most important parameter that influences the quality of the pulse height analysis of Gaussian shaped pulses see Fig 3 8 This Fit width and the limits Width min max for the fit range are set when choosing a Shaping time from the list box You may play with the Fit width parameter and see if you can improve the resolution of your pulses by setting a value corresponding to a shaping time in between of those in the list If your pulses are shaped with a rather long shaping time it could be necessary to increase the max Width of the Fit range to get a successful PHA result For Flattop pulses it is necessary to specify a ROI at the top of the waveform for calculating the mean value as PHA result see Fig 4 10 To get such a zoomed picture of the pulse at its top region first switch off the Auto scale and Minimum auto scale i
102. oma orma Falling edge SVA Mode Extern Trigger SV Mode Tagbits Tagbits Te Apply Cancel Fig 4 12 Setting parameters for flattop PHA 39 Software Description 4 1 7 Pulse width histogramming Since firmware version 5 16 the pulse width of the analog input pulse at the threshold level can be measured in units of 64 ns the pulse width data is inserted into the highest 12 bits of the RTC data the length of the timestamp data is then only 32 bits instead of 44 bits A histogram of the pulse width distribution can be acquired and a two dimensional spectrum showing the pulse height versus pulse width can be created It is possible to reject events if the pulse width is larger than a specified limit See in Fig 4 13 how to create a pulse width histogram and set a limit for the maximum pulse width Note that if Reject is enabled the data is still in the list file and the event is rejected only in the histograms So when evaluating a list file the pulse width limit still can be changed ADC Settings and Presets El x Iv Enable Bipolar voltage range RIimepreset s i 000 000 LTimepreset s 1000 000 Bo v advanced Settings E H v Dither enable R lpreset RDI min mac 0 i394 VPP mw 10820 SCA Lower Upper Jo E5535 THL hysteresis 30 LBs Threshold riv Jon Get Zero ardo PHA Width min mas n 2046 Shaping oz TE Fit width E M Count only stored even
103. onal SYNC output Or you use 1 signal that is connected via a power splitter to the MCA4 In our example we have a function generator that is set to square wave with 0 3 3V amplitude like a low voltage TTL signal and a frequency of 100kHz We connect the signal output to STOP 1 and the SYNC output to START GER MCS Settings Update Firmware Enter Unit H SCAT STAs SEA SCA SCAT sca2 SCA ECAs Setup name MA Browse Cancel Apply Load Sett Save Fig 2 20 MCA4 Settings select MCS Mode Now click on Options Hardware Settings or 6 to get the MCA4 Settings dialog pop up Select Mode MCS and click on MCS Settings ref Fig 2 20 to get to the MCS Settings window Fig 2 21 20 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Installation procedure MCS Settings Wiel xl Range 24 Dwelltinie fi DO On hsec External Clock Sequential cycles hi Sweep preset i Timepreset ino RO Preset i ma o Im MCS Inputs Polarity TILE sl Impedance tm sl hd Start rising edge v Stop rising edge hd Channel Advance rising edge Apply Cancel Fig 2 21 MCS Settings for a simple measurement Set Range 1024 Dwelltime 100ns MCS Inputs Polarity to TTL Impedance 50 Ohm and click OK After starting the measurement a garden fence like spectrum begins to grow ref Fig 2 22 The distance of the peaks is 100 channels corresponding to 100
104. r adding a MP data file The Load function creates then a new spectrum for compare whereas the Add functions adds the data to the spectrum selected by the active window For saving a selected spectrum into a seperated file click on the respective display window and select Save Display As from the MPANT File menu If you want to have the data file seperated from the header containing the configuration first open the data operations dialog using the toolbar icon showing the 4 yellow diskettes select Selected Spectra and check Seperate Header as shown in Fig 4 3 When saving data you have the choice between several formats like binary DAT ASCII ASC GANAAS SPE EMSA emsa and CSV CSV format by selecting it from Save type As To read a CSV file with Excel load it as a text file and configure TAB characters as seperators When you load data select a header file extension MP This file contains the information about the size and format of the data file which is then automatically read With Add the data is added to the present data 62 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH MPANT Software The data read from a file is shifted according to the calibration if it is available and Use Calib is checked in the MCA4 Data Operations dialog see Fig 4 3 This dialog can also be used to load spectrum data from a file into an existing display window New Display With the Open New menu item or the corresponding icon a new Displ
105. r zones I Enable Vert Horiz 03 vo sl Thickness Factor Vert Horiz Im sl Fontsize factor ER Colors C Ew PGR Add Addl Remove Removes Change Gray Page 1 ID Hange Type Mame Pillay 5 HEGO 7 Turku Fall a 00000 04095 000 000 5 ADC 10 011 fO0000 04096 000 000 5 ADC 11 Mo lD Page Left Top width 001 006 O01 4 08 153 73 79 6 62 Units 002 007 001 408 1100 1379 662 Ir inch 303008 0 408 20468 1379 EE2 infa v Date H FileName Paper margins c Zone margins 31 Horiz Vert Left Fight Top Bottom m 0 84 0 63 20 00 10 00 15 00 15 00 EA IV Frame hne P E 9 p aos pos a ee T Comment 3 Cancel Fig 5 6 Print dialog Setup Printer The Setup Printer menu item enables to configure the printer Exit The Exit menu item exits the MPANT program The server and any measurement data remain active MPANT can be easy restarted out of the file menu of the server program 5 2 Window Menu The Window menu enables arranging the Display windows Tile With the Tile menu item or by clicking the corresponding icon all opened and displayed MPANT Display windows are arranged over the full MPANT client area trying to allocate the same size for each window Cascade E The Cascade menu item or respective icon arranges all windows in a cascade display IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 65 MPANT Software
106. scalers The design is capable of converting incoming analog pulses PHA mode on up to 4 channels at virtually no conversion induced dead time Pulse Height Analysis can be performed using different fitting algorithms optimized for different input pulse forms and shaping times PHA data is transferred via the USB 2 0 interface in list mode at a max rate of 1 M events sec on each input Four continuously every 8 ns sampling 16 bit ADCs with extraordinary stability enable 32k resolution for PHA mode The availabilty of the simultaneous usage of the oscilloscope Scope mode together with a Fast Fourier Transformation FFT and software pulse height analysis allows for an easy setup and evaluation of the experiment The PHA data can be tagged with the 8 digital 1 0 bits and also with the 8ns Real Time Clock In Multiscaling MCS mode the internal memory is used to accumulate spectra of up to 16M bins An automatic sequential mode allows to acquire up to 65536 sequential spectra each with a presettable number of sweeps with no dead time between each cycle or synchronized with an external signal The maximum count rate is 400 MHz dwelltime is gt 30 ns for one STOP input or 50 ns for two STOP inputs A versatile 8 bit digital 1 0 port provides controlling external devices or to react on additional external signals The GO LINE compatibility allows to synchronize begin and end of the experiment across many measurement devic
107. spectrum shown in the MPANT program is an histogram of the ADC data the offset is subtracted Therefore the maximum pulse height value that can be recorded when using a 64k range is 64k minus the zero value The maximum spectrum range is therefore somewhat less than the binary range set so the spectrum length shown in the MPANT program is correspondingly reduced and the spectrum will be new painted when a new Get Zero calibration is done The MCAA is able either to record the waveform and send the complete waveform data Scope Mode or to do a pulse height analysis and just send the result The maximum count rate is of course much lower in Scope mode therefore this mode is used for optimizing the electronics like adjusting a pole zero in the amplifier and also selecting the parameters for the PHA pulse height analysis See chapters 2 5 2 and 2 5 3 Select Scope Mode to inspect your signal as shown in the right part of Fig 4 8 New elements appear now in the dialog for editing the waveform length and the trigger parameters The waveform length can be selected between 4k 8k 16k and 32k The unit is 8 ns so the waveform length is between 32 us and 262 us For the Triggering you can set the Source and Trigger Mode For the first check use the channel corresponding to the ADC as trigger source i e CH1 for ADC a_1 and Normal as trigger mode Now close all dialog boxes with OK and do a short acquisition by clicking the Start toolbar icon in the MPAN
108. sy to adjust your amplifiers offset and pole zero settings without the need of an additional oscilloscope We use a standard waveform generator e g 10kHz square wave connected to the ADC 1 input ref Fig 3 1 In the MPANT window click on Options Hardware Settings or amp i ref Fig 2 6 to find the MCA4 Settings window pop up Fig 2 7 Here select PHA Mode and then click on ADC Settings to get the ADC Settings and Presets dialog window 14 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Installation procedure is 1 k 8192 osea Dont Use Iw Enable advanced Settings LTimepreset f DUOC OU sec Countpreset Ro 1 Rh lpreset HUI min mas E e CR SCA Lower Upper E E5535 Threshold nm 3s Get Zero 2551 PHA Shaping e guess C Gaussian Te Flattop C Maximum Scope Mode h 32 60 m Trigger CH1 z W Scope Mode v Rising edge Falling edge RTimepreset 100 000 ZEC Apply Cancel Fig 2 9 ADC settings for the first measurement Referring Fig 2 9 do Enable ADC input channel 1 Chn a 1 Choose PHA Flattop to allow pulse height analysis of the square wave signal Set Scope Mode Scope Mode Rising edge Trigger CH1 and the length of the scope window here the maximum range of 32768 The trigger Threshold is set to 53 8mV Before we will start the measurement we first set the display windows scalings Click on the scope display window A1 3 in Fig 2 1
109. the colors dialog For the Mean Pixel a Threshold value can be entered channel contents below this value then aren t taken into account for the mean value calculation As plotting all values costs a lot of computing time for very large spectra it is replaces automatically by Max and Min pixel for spectra with more than 1 million counts Single Display Options X Type Max Pixel Threshold l Mean Pixel 1 SE SE Min Pinel None E CG AI Fil Custom Formula ErmorBar 2 Dimension Cancel Map Fig 5 13 Single Display Options dialog The button labeled Custom Formula provides spectra that are calculated in a special DLL named FMPA3 DLL This DLL allows to calculate spectra and to display it with the MPANT program The source code of this DLL is part of the optional DLL software interface so it is possible to program customer defined functions Select a single spectrum and open the Display options dialog Press then the button labeled Custom formula A dialog box Custom transformed spectra is opened Here the formula for the calculation can be selected and the parameters can be edited A new display window showing the calculated spectra can be created Error Bars can be activated in the display options dialog for the calculation of the error bars also the DLL is used Formula 6 calculates a Fourier transform of a wave form acquired in scope mode see Fig 2 14 It is possible to
110. the internal hardware based offsets should be performed and the resulting data stored Click on Options Hardware Settings or 46 ref Fig 2 6 to find the MCA4 Settings window pop up Fig 2 7 SES Update Firmware ADC Settings FIFO Size Full 256 Mb D Write Listfile ASCII SCAT SLAT SEAS 5CA3 e SEA SLA2 e Scag 5054 e Setup name MCA4 Browse Cancel Apply Load Get Save Fig 2 7 MCA4 Settings window Here select PHA Mode and then click on ADC Settings to get the ADC Settings and Presets dialog window ref Fig 2 8 left IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 13 Installation procedure ox iix 1 DES seal DES sl seal Dont Use Dort Use W Enable advanced Settings v Enable v advanced Settings LTimepreset 1000 000 sec LTimepreset 1000 000 sec v Dither enable Countpreset Ro Countpreset Je Bipolar voltage range 1 END R lpreset AOlpreset ROI min mas jo eg ROI min mas jo eg SCA Lower Upper jo E5535 SCA Lower Upper p E5535 Threshold mv 538 2535 Threshold mv 538 Betzer 32612 PHA PHA Shaping Width min mas P 2048 Shaping Ce Masimum Fit width E v Count only stored events C Gaussian Flattop Maximum Pile up reject C Gaussian Flattop Scope Made Scope M ode v Scope Mode 4036 Trigger chi I Scope Mode 4096 Trigger Ichi v Rising edge Falling edge J
111. therwise copy this software or any part of it for any other purpose Copyright 2015 FAST ComTec GmbH D 82041 Oberhaching Germany All rights reserved This manual contains proprietary information no part of it may be reproduced by any means without prior written permission of FAST ComTec Grunwalder Weg 28a D 82041 Oberhaching Germany Tel 49 89 66518050 FAX 49 89 66518040 The information in this manual describes the hardware and the software as accurately as possible but is subject to change without notice IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 3 Table of Contents KINU 8 AINA Procedure AA E AE 9 2 1 Hard and Software Heourements 9 MA NN S 10 2 9 o0ltWare IrstallatlOll EE 12 2 4 Hardware AAA 12 Ze SIH SAI Ue s siete 13 2 9 1 Ihiiial olset ii AAA Aaa 13 2 5 2 Basic Scope MEASUNCMIS E 14 2 0 0 Simple uineis 18 2 9 4 Mulliscalirig Da En EE 20 2 6 Installing more than one MCA4 Module 22 o Hardware DES PIO NR s mm 23 ONES LUI e 23 3 2 Front Panel COMME ARCET T ER 23 Zh NO MP EE 23 32 2 GATE MCS IMPUI ETT 24 329 FEATURE VO CONNECCION m 25 3 3 MCA section Analog to Digit
112. time 3 GATE input signal as discriminated 4 MCS event 2 5ns pulse for each detected count edge 5 SVA event as internally validated 6 Digital I O ports A very versatile 8 bit digital I O port is implemented on the FEATURE I O connector Since the corresponding resistors are socket mounted they can be easily user configured in a most flexible way This I O port is fully software controllable and each single 1 bit port is individually configurable It might be used for external alerts sample changer control status input outputs spectrum event tagging etc As can be seen from Fig 3 5 each individual bit might be configured as input only tri stated output pull up open drain or driver output small R I O with readback capability Wired OR AND connections are feasible 1 Apeak maximum is detected when the actual input data is 696 lower than the previous maximum value since the threshold crossing IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 25 Hardware Description 3 3V INTEGRATED CIRCUIT LOGIC DIGIO OE x DIGIO OUT x DIGITAL l O x DIGIO IN x Fig 3 5 Digital I O port details GO Line The system wide open drain wired AND GO Line enables any connected device to start and stop all participating measurment equipment simultanously The GO line may be enabled disabled set and reset under software control 3 3V INTEGRATED CIRCUIT LOGIC PULL GO LOW GO LINE GO INPUT Fig 3 6 GO
113. time can be set in units of 10 ns from 30 ns MCS or 50 ns MCS2 The measurement can be stopped automatically after a specified number of sweeps by checking Sweep preset If the checkbox ROI Preset is marked the measurement will be stopped after acquiring more events than specified in the interval between the boundaries defined in the corresponding edit fields The events are counted only if they are within the ROI limits i e gt the lower limit and lt the upper limit Another possibility is to acquire data for a given time via the Time Preset A series of measurements can be acquired into separate memory parts by checking Sequential cycles and specifying the number of cycles Each single measurement should be terminated preferably by a sweep preset condition The complete run stops after performing the specified number of cycles The spectra are then shown in a two dimensional view row by row in the MPANT program As the sequential mode is implemented in the firmware there is only a very small delay of 30 ns between the time spectra when using a sweep preset For some measurements it is desired to synchronize the sequential cycles to an external signal from a sample changer or target mover This can also be done by using the Digital I O port together with the waitpin command Just define any of the function toolbar icons in the MPANT program by a command like oncycle waitpin 3000 and click on this toolbar icon Now in sequential mode when a sw
114. ts Gaussian Flattop C Maximum Pile up reject Scope Mode Scope Mode SVA Made Estem Trigger SVA Mode T agbitz Tagbits Pulse Width v Pulse Width Histogram 128 B us vw Reject if pulse width gt us 4 032 Apply Cancel Fig 4 13 Pulse Width Histogramming 4 1 8 System Definition The System item in the settings menu opens the System Definition dialog box Several MCA s can be combined to form up to 4 separate systems that can be started stopped and erased together The use of the Digital Input Output and the GO Line can be defined It can be used either to show the ON or OFF status of the systems if the checkbox Status Dig 0 3 is marked At the respective pins 45 Volt are output if an acquisition is running and O V if not Alternatively it can be used for example with a sample changer by checking Value inc at Stop Here the 8 bit value entered in the edit field a number between 0 and 255 is output at the Dig I O port This value will always be incremented by 1 if the MCA4 is stopped The Invert checkbox allows inverting the logical level See also the commands pulse and waitpin how to handshake a sample changer or synchronize sequential cycles with a target mover see the control language in 4 3 The Radio buttons Push Pull and Open Drain define the output mode of the Dig I O ports 40 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Software Description It is also possible to use the di
115. ulated parameter or a copy of a primary spectrum There are two drop down list boxes for the Parameter and ROI Of course the ROI must be defined before by using the MPANT program it is not possible here to add any new ROI A checkbox labeled NOT in ROI allows to define a condition as an event outside the ROI Using the edit field Name it is possible to define a name for the Condition A default name built by the parameter name and ROI number will be set automatically Press Combine to open the Combine Conditions dialog Combine Conditions E MOT left right Lond 5llMal a2 1 SIE Cond 5llMa3 a4 1 ond al a Ec Cond aja m AND EE Name Ea 0 Cancel Fig 4 23 Combine Conditions dialog 46 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Software Description Here it is possible to define a Condition as a combination using the Boolean operators NOT OR or AND of already defined conditions The OR will be symbolized in the automatically generated name by a plus sign the AND by an asterisk IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 47 Software Description 4 2 File formats The mpa format is used to save all spectra in a single file It starts with an ASCII header containing the settings and then the spectra follow one after the other each proceeded with a header line like DATA0 16384 This means the first single spectrum with a length of 16384 channels DATA1 16384 This means the second single spectra CDATO 163594
116. used as Tag bits if this checkbox is selected and the respective licence is enabled A new edit field for the number of tag bits select between 1 and 8 appears in the Tagbits box and three radio buttons labeled One Hot Binary and Don t show Don t show means that the tag bits are only in the list data but not shown One hot means that a two dimensional spectrum is acquired with the tag bits as y coordinate See Fig 4 9 For eight tag bits there will be 10 rows of the data array The first row contains the spectrum if no tag bit was detected The second row is the spectrum with tag bit O set only the next row is the spectrum with tag bit 1 set and so on last row contains the spectrum when more than one tag bit is set 2 RO Region Of Interest 3 SCA Single channel analyzer IMF FIST ComTec GmbH 37 Software Description Binary means the y coordinate is the value if the tag bits are seen as a binary number In this case for 8 tag bits the y dimension of the 2D spectrum is 256 Tag bits can be used in PHA mode Scope mode and SVA mode As the digital 1 0 port is used the other functions using the digital 1 0 port like external controlled Start Stop of an acquisition are not available together with Tag bits ADC Settings and Presets nml x Chr fa 1 K Range 16384 Set All Gate Dont Use Iw Enable Bipolar voltage range LTimepreset s io00 000 Countpreset Adlpreset n ROI min mas jo 1538
117. wwe 32 MB s gach INPUT m ee 32k x 16 bit segmentable in 1 2 4 28 equal sized blocks Pulse Height Multichannel Analysis eese PHA SING SC OS NER ETE SCOPE PREQUGNICY DOMAIN gm E FFT Sampled Voltage Analysis cccsscccceseccceeeecssecceeeeeseseeseeeceeeaeeeass SVA Multichannel ne WEE MCS M P 1 ms oec T 8 ns AADI SANA wa PX m 50 ppm AOD E 3 ppm year 7 4 2 Analog to Digital Converter Conversion time Live realtime resolution Timer preset range Reference voltage Resolution abs Maximum PHA c S 8 ns Gaussian fit 9 2 xi1 96 x 8 ns ai M M 42 x 8 ns roi 1 ms iadpefeeu e 1 E 8 ns standard m lt 275 x 1 ms RTO OO EE lt 275 x 8 ns temperature Arif asisrsenrasisananenn naaa max 3 ppm C Gaussian fit 32k range a nnnannnennnnennnnnnnsnnnnennenne typ 1 7 2 8 FWHM 6 some modes may be used simultanously 7 fitis performed through 2 x i1 1 sample data 1 lt i1 lt 64 8 M number of samples averaged 0 lt M lt 256 86 IMF FIST ComTec GmbH Appendix Integral non linearity for 97 of the channels ref Fig 7 1 and Fig 7 2

4 Input Multichannel Analyzer 2 Input Multichannel

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