Double Crystal Spectrometer Data Acquisition and Control for X-Ray Spectroscopy

• Main Author: Godinho, César
• Publication Date: 2022
• Format: Master thesis
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/139567
• topic: Double X-ray spectrometer; Instrumentation; Acquisition and control; Software; Domínio/Área Científica::Engenharia e Tecnologia::Outras Engenharias e Tecnologias

The spectroscopy domain is now more than ever a rapidly growing field with very stringent measurements and demanding devices. These setups require precise assembly, and alongside with it also very reliable control systems. The need to follow along with modern control software offers many advantages in the ever-growing electronics world, making modernizing experiments an incentive. This separates the control and acquisition processes from undocumented proprietary software used for years in the past. The present work implemented a modern and modular acquisition and control system on a double crystal spectrometer we built at the NOVA/SST’s department of physics with remote network control capabilities. This system features modularity, scalability and is fully documented for further development. In this thesis, we present and discuss the developed software’s working principles and underlying ideas. We perform code testing and analysis as well to ensure quality. The created application was successful in automatically controlling the experimental setup. Spectra were acquired as a result of this, providing proof of concept. The designed system presented fully modular characteristics, working with any posterior, available peripherals. The software was successfully implemented as a part of the entire experiment and is flexible enough to be a part of any other research or device in the field, with suitable modifications.