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All-In-One Gamma-Ray Spectrometer

More sensitive to gamma radiation than a Geiger counter with the added bonus of telling exactly what's inside your samples!

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Using a small custom PCB with a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller, a scintillator (typically NaI(Tl)) and a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) you can build your own gamma spectrometer! The needed processing and multi-channel analyzer are all on-board so no external parts are needed, except something to look at the data (with a screen, obviously).

This detector uses a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) instead of the usual photomultiplier tubes that are more common with these types of DIY projects. This means that the whole assembly is much smaller and also safer, because no high voltages are needed! Also in contrast to projects like theremino you don't strictly need a computer or even an external sound card -- everything is self-contained. You can do standalone measurements using only a USB power cable and save the spectra to the Pico's flash storage or connect to your PC via the Serial-over-USB connection.

Here are some of the most important key facts:

  • Compact design: Total size 120 x 50 mm. Approx. 70 x 50 mm area for electronics and additional 50 x 50 mm to mount a scintillator.
  • All-in-one: No external parts (e.g. sound card) required to record gamma spectra.
  • Standalone spectra recordings on built-in flash.
  • Easily programmable using drag-and-drop firmware files or the standard Arduino IDE.
  • Low-voltage device: No HV needed like with photomultiplier tubes.
  • Can use SiPMs in the voltage range of 27.5 V to 33.8 V.
  • 4096 ADC channels with built-in 3 V voltage reference.
  • Energy resolution of up to 7% @ 662 keV possible; highly dependent on your SiPM/scintillator assembly.
  • Energy Mode: ~20 µs total dead time while measuring energy (default settings).
  • Geiger Mode: <5 µs total dead time without energy measurements (default settings).
  • Low power consumption: ~20 mA @ 5 V with default firmware at normal background.
  • Built-in ticker (buzzer) for audible pulse count rate output.
  • Additional broken-out power pins and I2C, SPI and UART headers for custom parts (e.g. display, µSD card, etc.).
  • Simple OLED support out of the box (SSD1306 and SH110x).
  • Built-in True Random Number Generator.

More information can also be found in the GitHub repository...

Ok nice, but how do I get it?

  • DIY version: Download BOM and Gerber files or use Kitspace.
  • Buy a complete board: Head over to Tindie.

The principle of operation for the detector looks like this:


Read more »

BOM.csv

BOM for the detector board

application/vnd.ms-excel - 2.35 kB - 04/11/2023 at 21:03

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schematic.pdf

Schematic of the detector board

application/pdf - 135.47 kB - 04/11/2023 at 21:03

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  • 1 × Raspberry Pi Pico Microcontroller and heart of this detector
  • 1 × MicroFC-60035 SiPM The silicon photomultiplier used with the scintillator
  • 1 × Main detector PCB Production-ready gerber file in GitHub repo or Kitspace
  • 63 × Components main detector board See BOM for exact parts
  • 1 × Scintillator For example NaI(Tl)

View all 6 components

  • Updated SiPM Carrier Boards

    NuclearPhoenix02/16/2024 at 20:38 0 comments

    I reworked the SiPM carrier boards a little in terms of the layout and also used the opportunity to make a board for the 3mm MicroFC SiPM from onsemi. This will definitely come in handy if someone wants to play around with these little LYSO sticks (4x4x20mm or so). The files for the 3mm carrier board can be found on GitHub: https://github.com/OpenGammaProject/Tiny-3mm-MicroFC-Carrier-Board

    At 6x6mm, the board is slightly larger than a 4x4mm LYSO scintillator face, but it really couldn't be much smaller and it should work reasonably well regardless.

    Overall, the layout of all boards is now tidier and, above all, the important connections are all a lot more clear better marked. I also reduced the distance between the individual SiPMs a little in the 2x2 array. The circuit is otherwise identical.

    Here are the latest PCBs:

  • FW 4.2.0: Recording to flash

    NuclearPhoenix01/20/2024 at 18:36 0 comments

    This new update is a little bit bigger than the last one. One major new feature is the option to record spectra 100% locally on the device and save the data to the onboard flash to be retrieved at a later point. You can start a recording via the serial interface and then keep track of the status or stop it manually before it finishes. The data that has been gathered can be again printed to the serial interface at any point after that. For this I have also added a couple new commands relating to the filesystem on the Pico's 2MB flash.

    Because of these changes, your current settings and also the runtime stats of your device will be reset once you update! So be sure to note your settings beforehand and restore after the update if you changed anything.

    There are also some smaller changes like a change in default settings (see below) and better formatting for the general info and fs info screens over the serial interface.

    Full list of changes:

    • Flash space (total 2MB) on the Pico is now divided 50:50 between the onboard file system and the program space (1MB for the filesystem). This change will result in a reformat of existing devices.
    • Changed default settings for "subtract_baseline" and "cps_correction":
      • subtract_baseline = true
      • cps_correction = false
    • Improved formatting of "read info" and "read fs" info screens. Also removed some irrelevant data from the "read fs" screen.
    • Standalone recordings: Start and stop spectrum recordings via the serial interface, the rest will be handled by the device, you don't need an active connection in between and you can collect the data anytime after it finishes. The data will be saved to flash in a compatible JSON (NPESv2) format for viewing in other software. There is also a tiny indicator on the OLED for when the device is currently recording. The device will stop recording after the set time has run out and will autosave regularly (every 15 minutes) just in case of a power failure. New serial commands, pretty self-explanatory:
      • record start <time in minutes> <filename>
      • record stop
      • record status
    • New filesystem commands to view the contents of the data directory and of files that were previously recorded (NPESv2 JSON). There is also an additional command to remove files once you don't need the data anymore. The 1MB of flash on the Pico FS can hold a lot of spectrum files (get used and free sizes using "read fs" command). Commands:
      • read dir
      • read file <filename>
      • remove file <filename>


    I think these are really cool changes and finally start to show the power of this device. Neither do you need a sound card or any additional hardware to generate spectra, you don't even need a computer all the time anymore with the stock firmware. Set and forget. Set up your serial recording, and then come back hours later to "download" the data from the device. Just copy paste the contents into a file on your system and open it in Gamma MCA or a compatible program to view in all its glory. No additional computing needed. Doesn't matter what you do with your computer. Just be sure to keep the device powered ;)

    Enjoy!

  • FW 4.1.0: Button Changes

    NuclearPhoenix01/17/2024 at 22:31 0 comments

    With the latest firmware update I changed the way the buttons on the board work. In the past the BOOTSEL button on the Pico would always change the mode of the detector while the other button on the main board toggled the buzzer. This was always a bit odd to use honestly, especially when you have an OLED installed directly on the pin header next to the button.

    With firmware version 4.1.0 the large button on the main board now took over the BOOTSEL button's job and changes the mode as well. BOOTSEL on the Pico will from now on always reboot the device into bootloader mode for easier updating. You can change the mode by pressing shortly on the other more accesible and larger button. Long-pressing on the button will toggle the buzzer on or off.

    Also the display now reacts more quickly to reflect the change in mode by changing the screen after you pressed the button.

    And last but not least, today I managed to break my record for my personal best achieved energy resolution. I used the same mushroom sample (Cs-137) that I always used before and got 7.4% @ 662keV, nice!

    This is the configuration I used: 1x1" with 2x2 SiPMs like previously, but with a new detector main board.

    It's actually one of the pre-assembled boards, which interestingly slightly outperformed my hand-soldered version by almost half a percent lol

    Cheers!

  • Board Restock Rev 4

    NuclearPhoenix01/14/2024 at 00:01 0 comments

    Finally, after all the delays, the long awaited restock is here. You can once again get the fully pre-assembled main boards for the Open Gamma Detector on Tindie. EDIT: It's the new version of course, Rev 4! Here's a link to the listing:

    https://www.tindie.com/products/28827/

    This time they come in a nice black color with ENIG surface finish and all the necessary connectors pre-assembled too. As always you will have to get yourself a SiPM and scintillator as these are not included. The boards will need to be programmed at the first start as they don't come pre-loaded. If you're not sure how to do this, here is a quick guide (it's really easy): https://github.com/OpenGammaProject/Open-Gamma-Detector/tree/main/software#firmware-files

    Cheers!

  • (Small) Update

    NuclearPhoenix12/27/2023 at 21:29 0 comments

    Just a quick reminder that the project is not dead (and also a very tiny update) :D

    Regarding the Tindie restock, I'm sorry for the seemingly endless delays. The boards are currently in production and I'm expecting them to be in stock again ready for shipping by early to mid January.

    To keep you interested and as a sort of small additional teaser, here is a comparison between my "old" scintillator with only a single SiPM that I used for all spectra up to this day and a brand-new 1x1" crystal with the 2x2 SiPM array:

    As you can see, the spectrum is a lot cleaner in total, the range is larger and the energy resolution is a lot better too. Keep in mind however, that this version costs at least around 100$ more than the "simpler" version, due to the added SiPMs and the larger, 4-layer array PCB.

    The larger scintillator comes with some additional benefits such as greater efficiency and therefore also higher count rate. You don't need one as large as this, though. 18x30mm is also a great size already pretty capable.

  • Notes about averaging (settings)

    NuclearPhoenix12/06/2023 at 21:41 2 comments

    I'm doing some last in-depth testing to optimize all the device settings for the best energy resolution possible and it looks like I found a much better suited setting for the ADC "averaging". In my case, I was able to get an improvement of about 1% just by switching this setting ("set averaging 2" from the default value 5). I've also just now changed the default value for averaging to 2 in the 4.x.x firmware to apply this improvement. If you already changed something in the settings, or you're using one of the older board revisions, you'll have to edit it manually.

    Give it a try, it might even work on older board revisions, but your mileage may vary. Nothing can break, so just feel free to experiment. If you're not sure, just reset the settings afterwards and you're fine.

  • Software Changes for FW 4.0.0

    NuclearPhoenix12/03/2023 at 11:01 0 comments

    Hello again, just a quick post to keep you updated on the software changes that I did to the new 4.0.0 firmware. Yesterday I already mentioned my work on the software without telling you what has changed. So here we are, these are all significant changes to the firmware:

    • Removed command for the buzzer on-time per tick. It's now fixed to 10ms.
    • Added command to enable/disable the buzzer. (default is off)
    • Added command to set the tick rate of the buzzer. (default is every 20 pulses)
    • Added a running median for the device dead time to better compute the current dead time.
    • All cps values on the display are now also dead time corrected. This applies to both the energy measuring and geiger modes.
    • Implemented the additional button on the PCB to toggle the buzzer on or off.
    • All serial commands that took "enable" or "disable" as a parameter now use "on" or "off". So, for example, "set display enable" now becomes "set display on". If you're not sure, the "help" command tells you exactly what you need to know.

  • More Tests and Documentation

    NuclearPhoenix12/02/2023 at 19:42 0 comments

    I already updated most of the documentation on GitHub and did a lot of additional testing. I also did most of the things I wanted to do for the firmware and uploaded the first 4.0.0 FW files. However, there are some "bad" news: the energy resolution didn't change a lot if at all when compared to the last revision. More testing revealed it stays much the same, so that was a fluke. But that doesn't change the fact that all the other changes and improvements still hold.

    I did some more testing on the energy range and noise levels too and these are my (practical) results:

    Can you see the difference? I'm sure you can. The new hardware produces a LOT cleaner spectra and if you look closely you can see the background plateau extends farther to the left after the 32 keV peak up to around 10 keV. This will be more visible in the next images. All of these spectra were recorded using the same crystal, same settings and everything. I recorded my mushroom sample, that's why I got these nice Cs-137 peaks.

    As you can clearly see, the peaks are a bit cleaner in general and the measurable plateau extends farther to the left after the 32 keV peak all due to the lesser noise floor. I've now used SMA 8 for both of these spectra. You can also see the reduction in noise in the compton spectrum to the left of the photopeak.

    I'm also still currently recording some new example spectra for GitHub and after that I'll check if the two modes of the SMPS on the Pico result in any changes and what averaging setting is the best for energy resolution. I'll keep reporting my findings of course.

    Still waiting for the updated OSHWA certification, once that's done, the new PCBs will go into production for Tindie and I will update the PCB files one last time to update the cert mark. I think I already mentioned the updated Tindie price in one of the last posts: it will have to go up by 5 bucks to accomodate the 4L board and the extra components, so the price will be 64.99 USD. I think that's more than fair given all the added value :)

    The Tiny SiPM breakout board will get a bit cheaper, it'll be around 1.00 or 1.49 USD. I'm also thinking about adding the temperature corrected standard MicroFC breakout board to the store. Let me know if you're interested in that!

    Cheers!

  • Revision 4.0 Status Report

    NuclearPhoenix11/28/2023 at 22:55 0 comments

    The latest hardware revision of the board is now almost complete. I've finished work on the hardware, did some testing and adapted the Arduino sketch to work on the new hardware just now. I'm very shortly going to talk about all the changes with the Rev 4 hardware.

    Most of the actual circuitry has been taken straight from the last revision with only minimal changes. So like I said in one of the last logs here on Hackaday, this is mostly a quality of life update and largely concerning the change of the PCB layout.

    Here is a list of all significant changes to the electronics:

    • Added a small buzzer
    • Added an additional button
    • Added two MCX connectors for a much improved and reliable connection to your SiPM/scintillators
    • Added an optional gain trim pot for the pre-amp
    • The PCB now has 4 layers instead of 2, with much improved board layout and layer stackup resulting in a lot less noise according to my tests
    • Changed the two 4-pin and single 2-pin headers for a single 10-pin header for the broken-out GPIO pins
    • Added an additional cap to the SiPM PSU output for better stability
    • Increased decoupling cap size in general all over the board
    • Swapped out some critical resistors for ones with less tolerance and a much lower temperature dependency to increase the detector response over vastly different temperatures. In the past especially the threshold voltage could be easily disturbed by a change in temperature. This is now a lot better according to my testing as well, I didn't have much of a threshold drift up to almost 60°C.
    • Decreased the threshold voltage range maximum to a more reasonable value. This also makes setting the right voltage a lot easier and helps with drift.
    • Added a board cutout to help with separating the two PCB sections if you decide to cut the additional space off
    • Some part consolidation (BOM)

    Admittedly, this is all a bit technical, but I guess you're here for the tinkering and the behind-the-scenes stuff anyways ;D

    In short, what does this mean for you, the user? Well, first of all, you finally got a buzzer and an additional button, how nice is that? You also got a more reliable option to connect the SiPM if you so desire. The device should also be a bit more stable now in general. And on top of all of that, I got a noticeable improvement in energy resolution (up to 1%, but I have to do some more testing on that) and I was even able to get a usable spectrum down to about 10 keV due to the less noise!

    Here are two test spectra that I did that back what I just told you (only 30 minutes, so expect results to be a bit better with longer recordings):

    About 9% energy resolution with a 9% scintillator and a single SiPM.
    Easily able to fully resolve the lower ~26keV peak of Am-241. Range goes down to about 10keV.

    Here are some renderings on how the final PCB looks like (with an OSHWA mark placeholder). I already have an assembled one here, but that's nothing worthy of showing off due to all the soldering and changes I did to it ;)


    I am going to do some more testing for the Arduino sketch that runs on the Pico and I still have to implement the button and some other buzzer-related things. It already works totally fine and stable just like the old software, only some functions are missing and I want to do some more optimizations on top of that.

    There will also be another batch of assembled PCBs on Tindie in a couple of weeks, this time the pin female headers on the board will also come pre-assembled in contrast to the last batch where they were left out. Price will probably need to go up like $5 per piece to compensate for the added parts and the 4L board, but I think that's more than fair given the number of improvements ;)

    So stay tuned for more updates on the Tindie stock as well!

    In addition to all of that, the PCB will also get a final, tiny update when I get the OSHWA certification again (just adding the mark to the silkscreen). There is still a lot to do for me, I'm going to slowly update everything...

    Read more »

  • Updated 2x2 SiPM Array

    NuclearPhoenix11/24/2023 at 17:30 0 comments

    Just did a quick rework of the 2x2 MicroFC SiPM array PCB, added the temperature compensation from the single PCB and cleaned up the layout in general. It's now 2x2cm in size and still keeps the easy solderability for the four SiPMs (results in a fill factor of ~40%), while also adding the ~21mV/K slope for the power supply.

    Front side with only the four SiPMs

    Front side with only the four SiPMs
    Back side with all the other components
    Back side with all the other components

    If you want to use it, just connect your power to the "VCC" pad, ground to "GND" and then the SiPM anodes to the spectrometer. You can check the set voltage at the "C" pad on the PCB. If you don't want to use the extra circuitry, you can just solder your power straight to the "C" pad and not bother with the other circuitry. However, you'll still have to solder the low-pass filters for each SiPM, otherwise they won't work.

    You can find all the files here: https://github.com/OpenGammaProject/MicroFC-SiPM-Array-Board

    Let me know what you think!

View all 52 project logs

  • 1
    OPTIONAL: Solder SiPM carrier board components

    This is an optional step if you're using the carrier boards. If you're not and just soldering wires directly to the SiPM or doing it otherwise, skip this part. Note, however, that soldering wires to the SiPM itself is much harder than using the breakout board.

    You can choose to add the optional SMD components, to add some more power decoupling. This might help stability especially for longer cable lengths. If you're doing so, bridge the solder jumper and connect wires to VCC, GND and A(node) pads. If you're not using the SMD parts, solder directly to A(node) and C(athode) and the jumper remains open.

  • 2
    Couple SiPM with scintillator

    Center the SiPM on the scintillator crystal and put some silicon grease or other special coupling material between the two parts to optimize the optical coupling (and minimize reflections). This step is important!

  • 3
    Wrap scintillator assembly

    Use black electrical insulation tape or similar non-transparent material to wrap the whole assemby, but watch out for the cables, of course. This will reduce light passing to the SiPM to an absolute minimum, otherwise it won't work properly. You should use multiple layers of tape just to be sure.

    Tip: I'm using tightly-wrapped Kapton tape on the outer-most layer to avoid the insulation tape from getting too loose.

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Discussions

ulrich.uw.weber wrote 03/03/2024 at 17:19 point

Hi,

first of all I want to thank you for your effort, kindness and your patience ;). I ordered (unfortunately) Rev.3 boards at first via kitspace and had some issues to get the raspberry running. I ordered Rev.4 boards now and wait for them to arrive. Neither the readily compiled uf2 nor the compiled ino (Rev.4 now) worked in the beginning. Setting up the Arduino IDE on a newly installed laptop got it working partly. I could see the output in a serial window, but neither one of my displays (SSH_1306 or SH_1106) did work. I compiled the ino several times with different I2C addresses (3C vs 3D) and both displays in true/false but nothing helped. Finally I started playing around with the pico using the serial console and found the "set display" command. After switching it to "on", the display worked perfectly well. Maybe you could mention in the readme.md for the software at git, that the display default is "off". Maybe that saves someones time and nerves ;). Please consider this not as a critic but as a suggestion.

Best regards and greetings to Austria 

Uli

  Are you sure? yes | no

NuclearPhoenix wrote 03/04/2024 at 11:36 point

Really sorry for the confusion. I thought I put a note there about that, but apparently I deleted it at some point. I'll write something about it in the README again, thanks!

  Are you sure? yes | no

John Beale wrote 12/09/2023 at 00:18 point

I am very interested in this project. I already have a few "pocket" size commercial gamma spectrometers, but I am looking for higher sensitivity (more counts for a given uSv/h rate). I gather finding the scintillator and SiPM is up to each experimenter. I see an eval board with the Onsemi ONSEMI MICROFJ-SMTPA-60035-GEVB is available (Newark 82AC2991 ), would this work? Is there any recommended type of scintillator, and source for same? I'm familiar with electronics generally but the scintillator area seems like a specialty all to itself, plus matching it optically and mechanically to the detector. I live in a humid area; is NaI(Tl) so hygroscopic it's going to turn into a puddle before I can even use it? I don't care so much about compact size, but I'm looking to maximize my (count rate per dollar) quotient

  Are you sure? yes | no

NuclearPhoenix wrote 12/15/2023 at 11:52 point

Hey, sorry for the late reply, I don't get notifications for comments unfortunately.

I'm pretty sure that board you mentioned would work. The one thing you have to keep in mind is that you need to get a good bond between the scintillator on the SiPM. So I don't know if the solder joints actually rise above the face of the SiPM. That would be very bad, because you won't get a flat bond between the two. I don't know about that for sure, so you might have to just figure it out.

As for the scintillator, I definitely recommend you get a NaI(Tl) crystal. As an example, you can get one from here cheaply: https://www.ost-photonics.com/product/diameter-1-inch-x-1-inch-naitl-scintillator/
You won't get a particularly good energy resolution with this one and just a single SiPM, but you'll definitely get a pretty high sensitivity with this large a scintillator. All NaI scintillators that you can buy come hermetically sealed, so don't worry about humidity.

  Are you sure? yes | no

John Beale wrote 12/15/2023 at 16:53 point

Thanks, yes I see. I'd rather not be grinding down header pins right next to a fragile optical sensor, and I see you have several SiPM board designs online, so I'm doing an OSHPark order. Looks like $30 on ebay buys a small NaI(Tl) crystal that comes inside a PMT assy ( Hamamatsu R7400U ). Photos suggest it could be hacked open, if one was prepared to deal directly with the bare crystal.

  Are you sure? yes | no

John Beale wrote 12/15/2023 at 17:21 point

Thanks for the ost-photonics link. I see they have 1"x2" also, would that be expected to give you double the count rate as 1"x1" ?

  Are you sure? yes | no

Robert wrote 12/16/2023 at 06:52 point

To answer John's last question, I am using a 1"x2" scintillator from Ost Photonics with my Open Gamma Detector, coupled to 2x2 SiPM array. I roughly get a 50% increase in background count rate compared to a 1"x1" scintillator, but the sensitivity at higher energies is significantly improved. Also, with the SiPM array, energy resolution improved to around 7.5% FWHM.

  Are you sure? yes | no

NuclearPhoenix wrote 12/16/2023 at 11:26 point

Yeah like @Robert already mentioned, it's not a linear increase in count rate per volume, but you'll still get noticeably more than with a 1" x 1". Haven't done any testing on that myself, but his estimate sounds right.

  Are you sure? yes | no

pnrsl wrote 10/27/2023 at 10:22 point

Hello,

We  pluged in the Raspberry Pi Pico via the micro-USB connection. A file manager window poped up. we draged and droped the opengamma_pico_3.5.1.uf2 file that we downloaded into this directory, but we couldent see any result. After that we thought that we can solve this problem by using Arduino ide (our aim is not changing any thing in code ), but we obsorved that there is problem in helper.h library. 

Thank you in advance.

  Are you sure? yes | no

NuclearPhoenix wrote 10/27/2023 at 11:56 point

Hello, I'm pretty sure you have contacted me now with the same problem for a couple of months. I have replied to each and every one of your messages (on GitHub, multiple times via e-mail, ...) with some suggestions and questions and you did not get back to me every single time. Instead you keep posting the same questions over and over. Sorry, but this is the last time I will reply to you. After that, good luck.

Ok, so. Can you specify "you couldn't see results"? What do you mean? No display? No serial connection? Did the power LED not light up?

To get the sketch to compile in the Arduino IDE you need to download the entire directory (or even better the whole repository) from GitHub, which also contains the helper header file. Please post the error message if that didn't resolve the issue.

Hope that finally helps.

  Are you sure? yes | no

ijcarlson07 wrote 08/09/2023 at 19:46 point

Hi! I am thinking about build your project, but I would like to be able to display the data on a Raspberry Pi touch screen, Would I need a whole new raspberry Pi 4 to do this? I would like to make this portable.

  Are you sure? yes | no

NuclearPhoenix wrote 08/10/2023 at 10:16 point

It really depends on the touch screen. You need one that works via I2C or SPI and has library support for the Pico/Arduino. Honestly, I'd just get some kind of breakout touch screen from Adafruit or something. They have great documentation and almost always some kind of library support for Arduino.

  Are you sure? yes | no

miles wrote 08/05/2023 at 21:58 point

Hi! I recently built your project, however when I got to the actual data collection I noticed there were a few problems in my spectra, the source of which I have been able to track. My setup uses a 1" by 1" cesium iodide crystal as well as the suggested MICROFC-60035-SMT-TR1 SiPM (and the active carrier board). One point where it deviates from the suggested design is 3' of BNC cables connecting the probe to the driver (all shielded and grounded). The actual problem that I have run into is when I go to collect background data the overwhelming majority of pulses are recorded at 209 (5,000 counts in 20min) as well as a second lesser spike at 217 of 1500, this is with 4" of lead and cement shielding. The average is 50.3 +- 200 cps. I have tried adjusting the gain with limited success. Do you know what could be the cause of this problem?

Thanks

  Are you sure? yes | no

NuclearPhoenix wrote 08/05/2023 at 22:34 point

Hi! Does the spectrum otherwise look okay? It sounds like a noise issue to me. DId you try changing the discriminator threshold?

  Are you sure? yes | no

miles wrote 08/05/2023 at 23:08 point

I originally adjusted it quite a bit to get the estimated 10-50cps range (outside shielding). Other than the unusual spikes the spectrum looks about as expected. 

  Are you sure? yes | no

NuclearPhoenix wrote 08/06/2023 at 12:32 point

Huh, that's weird. If that doesn't help, maybe it's somehow an issue with the BNCs like Sebastian mentioned. An easy way to debug if it's a cable issue is to try and use some ordinary, short copper wires to connect directly to the SiPM board. If that helps, you know it's something to do with your BNC cables.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Sebastian D'Hyon wrote 08/06/2023 at 06:45 point

That is a large deviation for spikes.

Are you using Na or Ti doped crystal? The C series Onsemi sensors are better suited for Na doped crystals, but should still work for Ti, so this probably isn't the issue.

Also I found that a 1" crystal is better suited with a 2x2 array due to the large size.

I would perhaps check if you have any light leaks in your assembly. Also, if you're using BNC I would check to see if you're only grounding the shield at board side, it could be a ground loop issue?

  Are you sure? yes | no

gasel86895 wrote 04/22/2023 at 17:31 point

Hi, this is very interesting. I would like to understand your thinking in the preamp design and why a transimpediance preamp design wasn't used.

  Are you sure? yes | no

NuclearPhoenix wrote 04/22/2023 at 21:00 point

Hi, yeah I get this question a lot. In a nutshell, it boils down to saving cost and complexity. You could do that of course and it might (?) improve energy res by a couple %, but you'll pay that with multiple times the cost and complexity. That's just not worth it for this kind of device IMO.

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 04/23/2023 at 10:53 point

Just added a new FAQ section on the design/cost thing if you want a more detailed explanation: https://github.com/OpenGammaProject/Open-Gamma-Detector/blob/main/REFERENCE.md#why-dont-you-use-a-tia-or-csp-or-change-x-or-y

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Sebastian D'Hyon wrote 04/20/2023 at 08:06 point

Hey, awesome project!

Any chance for a .step file for the PCBs? Would like to do some modelling for a custom case and shielding. I'll share whatever I make.

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 04/20/2023 at 08:55 point

Hm, I don't think EasyEDA supports STEP exports. But I can give you .mtl and .obj files. Let me know if that works too!

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Sebastian D'Hyon wrote 04/20/2023 at 10:11 point

This will work!

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 04/20/2023 at 11:46 point

Just uploaded it to GitHub! https://github.com/OpenGammaProject/Open-Gamma-Detector/tree/main/enclosure/3D

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sukhjinder564 wrote 03/31/2023 at 16:27 point

Hi, I am trying to flash my pico with the firmware you have provided, but it does not reboot once I drag the .uf2 file over in Windows. I tested a simple LED blink program using MicroPython to confirm that I can communicate and run something on the Pico. Do you have any idea what may be occuring?

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 04/02/2023 at 11:53 point

Hm, that's weird. So the micropython sketch works fine?

What UF2 file are you using specifically?

I'm not sure what could possible be causing this, especially since you had success with micropython. Did you flash the micropython firmware previously and then upload scripts via thonny or something like that?

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sukhjinder564 wrote 04/03/2023 at 17:18 point

I was able to flash the board after compiling the sketch on your git, but the provided .uf2 file does not work. Not sure why. I had been using thonny previously. 

I have been noticing that the noise on the SiPM comes in at high energies (~600 keV!) - I cannot see the Cs137 peak well and cannot see the 511 peak in Na22. The assembly is light-tight, and I have adjusted the gain as well. Do I need to have a 50 ohm resistor on the anode? I currently have four wires soldered directly to the SiPM that are being fed into the PCB.

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 04/04/2023 at 10:34 point

Okay, that is very weird. Especially since all the Arduino upload does is generate a UF2 file, reset the device and copy the UF2 to the device folder. So it's basically the same.

Anyways, did you calibrate the device with some known isotopes? Because the raw output you get is just the ADC channels, i.e. bins.

Are you using the SiPM breakout board? And what cables do you have connected? You only need 3 at max, one for anode, cathode and a ground.

You don't need any additional resistors.

Can you maybe send me a PM with one of your spectra please, where I can see the noise peak?

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sukhjindersingh564 wrote 01/25/2023 at 19:37 point

Hi, this is a very interesting project.

I am having trouble finding any of the C-Series SiPMs in stock, do you think one of the J-Series SiPMs is a good alternative? For example the MICROFJ-60035-TSV-TR1?

Thanks!

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 01/27/2023 at 11:28 point

Hi, just had a quick look at it and it seems like it would work. They look mostly similar to the C-Series SiPMs.

Another alternative for you would be the Broadcom Avago AFBR-S4N66C013.

I also have a breakout board for this: https://github.com/OpenGammaProject/AFBR-SiPM-Carrier-Board

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Fabian Meier wrote 12/19/2022 at 09:01 point

Need some pointers in getting started with board from Makerfabs.

Hi NuclearPhoenix, great project - thank you very much for your time and effort.
I ordered a board from Makerfabs. I don't get any connection via USB - I don't see a serial port nor a USB flash drive (also by holding down the BOOT key). The LED ACT on the analog board is always on, I have about 20V on the PWR pin for the detector. It seems the RPI Pico board is not responding as it should. Did Makerfabs already download the Gamma Ray firmeware to the RPI? Thank you!

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 12/19/2022 at 11:52 point

Hi,

there is no firmware pre-flashed. It should pop up as an external drive as soon as you first plugged it in. Very weird that it doesn't react at all! If you press and hold the BOOTSEL key _while_ plugging it into the USB, your computer also doesn't recognize any external drive? Do you have any other Pico at hand to test it on that one, just to exclude any issues related with your computer?

If not, please hit me up with an email and maybe attach some photos of the board too.

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Erhannis wrote 12/16/2022 at 22:04 point

Questions!  You mention it being sensitive to EMI - is that just the main board, or the SIPM, as well?  Could you put the main board in a box and wrap it in foil, and have the SIPM on an external cable?  Would having a long cable (maybe a meter?) between the main board and the SIPM introduce a lot of noise or other problems?  Thanks!

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 12/17/2022 at 13:24 point

It's the main board and the SiPM as well. I wouldn't recommend long cables at all, except for shielded coaxial cables. Best case would be everything inside a grounded thin aluminium enclosure with as short cables as possible to the SiPM.

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Chris wrote 09/15/2022 at 20:12 point

Hello NuclearPhoenix,
can I also connect a PMT with a NaI(Tl) scintillator? I will use a HV Splitter, so that only the pulse signal after the splitter can reach the signal input circuitry of your board.

So I mean can I replace your SiPM detector board with a PMT detector? If yes what will I have to care about?

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 09/15/2022 at 20:51 point

Hi, if you manage to supply the detector board with positive (!) pulses from your PMT you could get this to work. I don't know the voltage (signal) levels you're dealing with in your setup of course, so definitely watch out to not kill the preamp by overvoltage. Absolute maximum rating is -0.5 to 3.8 V in this case, preferably 0 to 1.6 V.

Definitely let me know if you manage to get some results, sounds really interesting!

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Chris wrote 09/15/2022 at 21:06 point

Hi, I had ordered the PMT and NaI(Tl) scintillator crystal from different sources. The HV power supply I am using can be regulated from DC to 1000V with a maximum of 2 mA. That should be enough to drive the PMT. It has a power divider at its end and needs only a HV supply of appr. 850 V for working. After that there will be a HV/signal splitter which separates the HV and the signals. I have to measure the signal level if I received both items and build together. I am happy to write the results here in your blog. Your board is already here (orderered from Makerfabs). They are really quick in shipping. After 7 days I received the board completey really professional build. Thumbs up!

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Chris wrote 10/23/2022 at 16:30 point

Hi, now I got my NaI(Tl) Scintillator crystal and build als parts together for my PMT sensor. After calibration of my signal inverter amplifier (build in a shielded Al-housing with high qualitiy BNC connectors from huber & suhner) I played a while around with the trimmer settings till my scop says that the voltage peaks amplitudes are in the range of 400 mV to 1,9 Volts. Yess it runs!

Your Open Gamma Detector is showing cps rates... I have to reduce the PMT Voltage from 850  to 760 Volts, because NaI brings much more higher pulses as Bicron 412 Scintallators. That is impressive. The whole system seems to work now and I am playing with your Gamma MCA...

Fantastic project! Respect!

If you want I can post the hardware mods so that other interested readers can adapt it to their own PMT.

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 10/23/2022 at 17:48 point

Awesome! Don't forget to turn down the preamp gain on the board if your input signals are already at 100s of mV, but best not all the way. You could also desolder one of the 10 Ohms feedback resistors next to the preamp to get a gain of 1 and fully turn down the potentiometer. This way you'll probably get the best range for your setup. Signals could then start at ~100 mV up to the 1.6 V max.

Please feel free to post more info on your hardware, I'm interested ;)

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Jesse wrote 09/03/2022 at 13:27 point

Awesome little project, I work at a university in the nuclear engineering department but am not very strong in the EE area. I ordered one of the boards but I'm still looking for a SiPM chip. It appears all possible sources are back ordered. Would the evaluation board (MICROFC-SMTPA-60035-GEVB) be an appropriate substitute, it looks like these are still available? 

Thank you and keep up the great work!

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 09/03/2022 at 15:59 point

Hi there, thanks for your comment and encouragement ;)

The MICROFC-SMTPA-60035-GEVB should work no problem, you'll only need pins 1 and 3 on it. The only issue might be the pin headers, though. I can't really tell from the images, but on the front side the solder joints could be actually higher than the SiPM itself so you wouldn't get any optical contact with the scintillator. Other than that you need to get it light-tight somehow and you're ready to go. Honestly, I would just desolder them and save some headache this way.

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Jesse wrote 09/03/2022 at 16:37 point

Thanks for the reply. I hadn't considered some of those issues before. 

If I was to go with the AFBR-S4N66C013 as an alternative the spec sheets shows several more leads than the MICROFC-60035-SMT.

The spec sheets says "All cathode balls (C_1 to C_6) are connected together. All anodes (A_1 and A_2) are connected together. Unlabeled balls are floating, preferred electrical connection to cathode voltage. "

Would I only need to solder one wire to a single anode ball (ground), one wire to a cathode ball (power) and one wire to a single floating ball (signal)? Sorry for my ignorance on this. 

Also, would the MICROFC-10010-SMT-TR1 be another alternative?

Thank You!

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 09/03/2022 at 17:32 point

Yes, the AFBR-S4N66C013 has a completely different package which is much harder to solder! According to the datasheet the anode must be connected to the SiPM voltage and the cathode to the signal pin. You don't need ground here. I haven't found any eval boards for this kind of SiPM, that would definitely come in handy!

I would advise against the MICROFC-10010-SMT-TR1 as the general photon detection efficiency is much smaller (and the size too of course). In addition to that its gain is also smaller by an order of magnitude. Maybe you could get the 35 µm version of the 1 mm SiPM, that might work again.

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Jesse wrote 09/03/2022 at 21:05 point

Awesome, thanks for the help. I'll let you know how it goes. I'll probably stick with the MICROFC-60035-SMT and wait for stock to come in.

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hathawayresearch.george wrote 08/29/2022 at 14:36 point

Will someone offering a complete "OEM" package including SiPM & Scint for those willing (like me) to pay but don't have the time to build?

George Hathaway (george@hathawayresearch.com)

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 08/30/2022 at 09:11 point

Hi there George, I can only speak for myself, but currently I don't have the capacity to offer complete kits. I've started with the main detector board now and if there's enough interest, I'll also offer the SiPM on its little carrier board too.

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hathawayresearch.george wrote 08/30/2022 at 16:26 point

Thanks for the reply. Hope someone might pick this (full OEM) up someday. Such a cool project.

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ysyangsongzz wrote 07/19/2022 at 09:44 point

I will try the DIY project ,I hope you provide new information.

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ysyangsongzz wrote 07/18/2022 at 09:47 point

Your answer:The energy resolution is at about 15% @ 300 keV, very highly dependent on the scintillator crystal of course and your whole SiPM/crystal assembly. In fact, I'm not even sure 15% is the best, it's just what I achieve with my simple used scintillator. I couldn't test it with Cs-137 at the nominal 600 keV yet.

My question:This resolution is a little poor. The resolution of normal Nai scintillator spectrometer can reach 7%~8%. Can the energy resolution be improved by changing Nai and increasing the number of SIPM?At present, this product cannot measure Cs137?

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 07/18/2022 at 15:23 point

Like I said, I bought my scintillator used so I don't know the energy resolution 100% for sure. You will probably have a better resolution with a brand-new crystal from a reputable manufacturer. The detector can measure Cs-137, of course! I simply haven't come around to measuring it since I don't have it  at home currently ;)

In fact if you can get a great mount with the new SiPM carrier board, you will surely get an even better resolution. By the way, most of the cheaper commercial spectrometers have an energy resolution of up to 12 - 13% so that's not too far off. However, that's measured at the Cs-137 662 keV line so you can't compare it 1:1.

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ysyangsongzz wrote 07/18/2022 at 09:20 point

OK,NuclearPhoenix .I see it again.

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ysyangsongzz wrote 07/18/2022 at 08:29 point

Hello,NuclearPhoenix .Is the NaI crystal used  one inch in the DIY project? SIPM is 6mm*6mm. I want to ask how SIPM and Nai are coupled to ensure the photon collection rate.  THe energy resolution question in the PMs,the PMs is what?

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 07/18/2022 at 09:15 point

The coupling process is described in the build instructions and on GitHub. "PMs" are the private messages here on Hackaday, you sent me a message there.

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ysyangsongzz wrote 07/15/2022 at 00:36 point

Hello,NuclearPhoenix .How many sipms are used in this DIY projet? What is its resolution to Cs-137? Schematic v2.0 version has been released on GitHub website. When can the corresponding v2.0 PCB be released?

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 07/15/2022 at 12:05 point

Just one SiPM, otherwise I would have stated so in the documentation. The PCB is already released on GitHub. I already replied to your energy resolution question in the PMs.

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ysyangsongzz wrote 07/14/2022 at 02:42 point

Have you considered the temperature drift of SIPM?

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NuclearPhoenix wrote 07/14/2022 at 15:51 point

No, it's not temperature corrected since this is a DIY project designed for use in controlled environments. Of course there is some drift, but if you use it close to the nominal 25°C you will not notice it.

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