Development of a DAQ circuit for a plasma-display-panel-based X-ray detector

The plasma display panel (PDP) is one of the most widely used display components in flat panel displays. It is popular in the TV market because of its relatively simple cell structure, low-cost materials, and uncomplicated manufacturing process. Recently, several research groups have shown that the cell structure of a PDP, which consists of electrodes and a gas mixture, can be used in the manufacture of radiation detectors. In the previous study, we developed a PDP-based X-ray detector (PXD). This prototype detector panel has row and column strips, and hence, it can be used as an imaging detector. To obtain the 2D X-ray image from the developed panel, a PXD dedicated driving and data acquisition (DAQ) circuit was developed. The proposed DAQ system consists of a multichannel high-voltage switching board, a multichannel DAQ board, and an FPGA-based control board. The prototype system has a compact design that can be easily used for various object imaging experiments. Each of the developed module boards of the DAQ system was tested, and the integrated system was verified as well. We hope to further study the signal processing in the system to obtain a clear image from the detector.