Channel electron multiplier signal detector and digitizer
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
InventorThomas A. Tumolillo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device for digitalizing oscilloscope traces of fast transient signals is rovided in which a plurality of channel electron multipliers are arranged with their cathodes in a coordinate array in the path of a cathode ray beam such that the trace of the beam thereacross energizes those channel electron multipliers in the path of the oscilloscope trace. These multipliers remain energized until their anodes and associated anode circuits are scanned by a digital indexing device in a predetermined raster, synchronized with the oscilloscope, by which the respective coordinates of the energized multipliers are determined and stored in a memory so that the trace can be reproduced at any given time for subsequent analysis.
Claims8
Means for digitizing oscilloscope traces of transient waveforms and the like defined by the path of travel of an electron beam, comprising:
- oscilloscope means having a predetermined scan rate generating said electron beam, said oscilloscope having a main envelope;
- a plurality of channel electron multipliers within said main envelope having anodes and cathodes with said cathodes arranged in a substantially planar array defined by coordinate parameters in the path of said electron beam;
- a stable output responsive means at each of said anodes generating an output signal in response to the impingement of said electron beam on a corresponding cathode;
- converter means for strobing said output responsive means to sample said output signals in a predetermined sequence correlated to said coordinate parameters and generating digital signals indicating the presence or absence of a said output signal;
- and
- memory means driven by said converter means for storing said digital signals in said predetermined sequence to thereby store a digital representation of the path of travel of said electron beam across said cathodes as a function of said coordinate parameters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.