Winter 2013 Newsletter

Message from the President

The staff at Berkeley Nucleonics has an exciting year planned for the industry. We are introducing several new products, expanding our online training seminars and participating in conferences worldwide. We are also celebrating a milestone I’ve grown to appreciate as I’ve watched our partners, customers and competitors alike go through mergers and acquisitions, be divested or downsized, spun off or consolidated. That milestone is longevity. Berkeley Nucleonics is 50 years old !

Similar to our NIM pulse generators, still providing stable tail pulses for the MCA community, we are still a leading brand in the signal generation and recovery industries. Our latest product, the Model 845 20GHz Microwave/RF Signal Generator is an example of this. However, many companies in the past 50 years have had great products. I like to think that in addition to the great products, Berkeley Nucleoncis offers it’s customers something more…great support! We are easy to reach and available to talk through your applications. In fact, our engineers are so relentless in solving application issues, they can completely lose track of time. But we allow for that at BNC, it appears time is on our side !

Happy 2013 !

David Brown, President

Some Thoughts on Crystal Hydration of Various Scintillator Materials

Some scintillation crystals like e.g. NaI(Tl) and Lil(Eu), are hydroscopic and are therefore easily damaged when exposed to moisture in air at normal humidity levels. The hermetic seals used in these assemblies must be protected at all times. Avoid using strong organic solvents which may dissolve the seals or soften them and never expose the detector to mechanical shock which may crack or chip the seals. Detectors specially designed for operation during vibration and / or shock conditions have their own specifications regarding these parameters. In Nal(TI) crystals, hydration first appears as yellow spots on the surface and in a further stage as a distinct yellow tint of the crystal. Hydrated Nal(TI) is an excellent absorber of its own blue scintillation light. Hydration will significantly degrade the light output (and its homogeneity) and thereby the energy resolution of the scintillation detector. Except for low energy radiation, the counting efficiency is usually not degraded if the detector gain is increased sufficiently.

CsI(Na), CsI(TI) and undoped CsI are not really hydroscopic in the sense that these crystals can be stored in a normal laboratory environment. However, a high relative humidity (> 50 %) will attack the surface of the crystals (producing a white veil) since these crystal materials are soluble in water. The crystal can be restored by repolishing. For the above reason, CsI crystals should NOT get into contact with materials that can absorb moisture.

BGO, YAP:Ce or CdWO4 crystals and other non-soluble crystals can be cleaned with ethanol and a soft tissue.

Time Interval Counter with 1 Picosecond Accuracy on a Single Shot

1 pS Time Interval Counter

Berkeley Nucleonics Corporation is excited to introduce the Model 1120 Time Interval Counter (TIC). The Model 1120 represents a breakthrough in signal measurement with 1pS resolution on single-shot timing requirements. The start input and stop input connectors allow user to cable a variety of instruments to the TIC and measure the time delay between the events with unprecedented accuracy. The user may select a trigger level and slope (+ or -) for greater control of test parameters.

The Model 1120 includes a simple, front panel interface to allow researchers to modify setup parameters without the need for a remote PC interface. The recorded data is stored in the Model 1120’s non-volatile RAM for later readout (front panel or Ethernet).

Radioactive Source Disposal Services

Radioactive Source Disposal

Berkeley Nucleonics is now offering support for your radioactive source disposal needs. BNC is fully licensed, under a Type A Broadscope license awarded by the USNRC, to provide services such as the transfer, transport, packaging, repackaging, and borkering of radioactive sealed sources for the purpose of disposal. Many of these sources are used in equipment and processes such as Orphan Waste, Medical Waste, Medical Isotopes (brachytherapy seeds), Gas Chromoatographs, Portable Nuclear Density / Moisture Gauges, etc.

To ease the headache of disposal preparation, we can provide : on-site packaging / repackaging, on-site pickup, completion of DOT shipping and "transfer of custody" forms, on-site leak testing (required for transport), decontamination (if required) & decommissioning support, and transport index (TI) Radiation Surveys.

A Femtosecond Digital Delay Generator

16 Channels

The latest Digital Delay Generator / Pulse Generator from Berkeley Nucleonics offers 250 femtosecond delay resolution and jitter of 2 picoseconds. These specifications are industry finest and reiterate our commitment to the most precise time domain control achieveable. We are leveraging the latest component technology and analog production techniques. 8 channels of independent Delay and Width make the 745 a versatile Digital Delay Generator for gating, syncing, pulsing or delaying lasers or other experiment devices. All parameters may be controlled via a front panel or Ethernet / USB remote. Learn more at http://www.bncsignalgenerators.com/model-745-digital-delay-generator/