<p> X-ray fluorescence has been used to measure levels of lead in the bone for many years. This technique is particularly important for the occupational monitoring of those exposed to lead in the workplace as it provides an indication of long term exposure and retention in the body. The measurement of kidney mercury by x-ray fluorescence has been developed recently and is currently being improved for future use in occupational monitoring.</p> <p> X-ray fluorescence detection systems conventionally employ analog-amplifier components. Recently, digital spectrometers have been developed which can replace these conventional electronics components. The digital systems offer higher throughput without major losses in resolution which translates to better precision and reduced detection limits for x-ray fluorescence measurements.</p> <p> Investigations using the DSPECplus and DSA-2000 digital spectrometers for the measurement of bone lead in phantoms showed significant improvements in precision and potential reductions in MDL compared to conventional electronics. The use of the DSA-2000 digital spectrometer in a bone lead survey was shown to improve measurement uncertainties for in vivo bone lead measurements. Investigations using the DSA-2000 for the XRF measurement of kidney mercury in phantoms also showed a significant reduction in MDL for this system by the introduction of digital spectroscopy.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Nesse trabalho foi desenvolvido um sistema de aquisição &gamma;&gamma; que possibilita realizar medidas de Análise por Ativação Neutrônica Instrumental por espectroscopia gama unidimensional e em coincidência simultaneamente para os elementos As, Co, Cs, La, Sc, Se e Sm. Para tal foram realizadas medidas preliminares em sistemas de aquisição &gamma;&gamma; baseados em instrumentação analógica e digital a fim de se verificar a eficiência da técnica a partir de medições de padrões sintéticos e análises de materiais de referência certificados. Essas medidas também auxiliaram na escolha do tipo de instrumentação mais apropriada para o desenvolvimento do sistema de aquisição no Laboratório de Física Nuclear Aplicada (LFNA) do IPEN. O sistema montado no LFNA é composto de uma placa digitalizadora da marca CAEN modelo v1724 e dois detectores de germânio hiperpuro. A aquisição dos dados é controlada pelo software MC2Analyzer, que fornece dados brutos de energia e tempo dos pulsos registrados. Foram desenvolvidos dois programas de redução de dados que selecionam os eventos em coincidência a partir dos espectros unidimensionais: o DPP que prepara os dados para serem analisados em programas de análise de espectros bidimensionais; e o AnalisaCaen que trata os dados para sejam analisados em programas de análises de espectros unidimensionais. Foram realizadas análises de materiais de referência certificados biológicos e geológicos, e também padrões sintéticos utilizando-se as técnicas de Análise por Ativação Neutrônica convencional e em coincidência. Os resultados permitiram verificar a confiabilidade dos valores das concentrações dos elementos As, Co, Cs, La, Sc, Se e Sm obtidos com o sistema de coincidência desenvolvido. Os resultados obtidos por ambas as técnicas, Análise por Ativação Neutrônica Convencional e Análise por Ativação Neutrônica em Coincidência, foram comparados e valiados em termos de precisão e exatidão pelo critério de Enscore. Em alguns casos, os resultados de concentração obtidos por meio das medidas de coincidência forneceram melhores do que os resultados obtidos pela espectroscopia gama convencional. / In this study was the developed a &gamma;&gamma; acquisition system that make possible to perform Neutron Activation Analysis by single gamma spectroscopy and coincidence &gamma;&gamma; spectroscospy simultaneously for the elements As, Co, Cs, La, Sc, Se e Sm. In order to achieve this main goal preliminary measurements in &gamma;&gamma; acquisition systems with analogical and digital instrumentation were performed to check the efficiency of technique through measurements of synthetic standard and certified reference material. These measurements also helped to choose the most suitable instrumentation for the development of the acquisition system in the Applied Nuclear Physics Laboratory (LFNA) located at IPEN. The developed system is composed by a CAEN v1724 digitizer board and two hyperpure Germanium detectors. The data acquisition is controled by MC2Analyzer software, which provide raw data of energy and time information of the recorded pulses.Two softwares for data reduction that allow the set the coincident events from single spectra were developed: DPP which prepare the data to be analyzed with softwares for bidimensional espectra.; and AnalisaCaen which handle the data to be analyzed with softwares for single spectra. Determination of the concentration for some elements in certified reference materials and sytnhetic standards were performed applying the conventional and coincidence Neutron Activation Analysis methods. Accuracy and precision of the results obtained by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis and Coincidence Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis were performed by Enscore criteria. The results obtained with this system allowed to check the reliability on the determination for the elements As, Co, Cs, La, Sc, Se and Sm. In some cases the concentration results obtained with coincidence measurements were better than the results from single spectroscopy.

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In this work, Neutron Depth Profiling (NDP) analysis capability has been added to the Oregon State University TRIGA�� Reactor Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis Facility (PGNAA). This system has been implemented with an advanced digital spectroscopy system and is capable of rise time pulse shape analysis as well as coincidence measurements from multiple detectors. The digital spectroscopy system utilizes a high-speed multichannel digitizer with speeds up to 200 Megasamples/second (MS/s) with advanced hardware trigger and time stamping capabilities. These additions allow the facility to conduct simultaneous NDP and PGNAA combined measurements, which also enables cross calibration. The digital pulse processing is implemented with software programmed rise time pulse shape analysis capabilities for the analysis of the detector responses on a pulse-by-pulse basis to distinguish between different interactions in the detector. The advanced trigger capabilities of the digitizer were configured to accurately measure and correct for dead time effects from pulse pile up and preamplifier decay time. / Graduation date: 2013