Application of digital signal processing in discrimination of neutrons and gamma rays

Two new methods for the digital discrimination of neutrons and gamma-rays in a mixed radiation field using digital signal processing techniques are presented. While almost all of the pulse-shape discrimination methods use time-domain features of signals, the proposed procedures successfully separate these radiations using their frequency-domain data. These methods are computationally simple, hence appropriate for field measurements. Applied to several sets of mixed neutron and photon signals obtained through different digitizers using stilbene scintillator, these approaches are analyzed and their discrimination qualities are measured.