Nuclear event detector and threshold detector circuit therefor
AssigneeBritish Aerospace Public Limited Company
InventorsGeoffrey Smith, Jiapal S. Brar
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Abstract
A threshold detector circuit (2) suitable for use with a nuclear event detector for sensing an ionising radiation pulse has a high tolerance to ambient temperature fluctuations. The threshold detector (2) comprises an amplifier stage (3) which includes a pair of complementary transistors (Q2, Q3) and a comparator stage (6) which includes a third transistor (Q4) and a voltage reference (7). Temperature compensation is achieved by the addition of a feedback loop (5) in the amplifier stage (3) including a fourth transistor (Q1) whose temperature coefficient is closely matched to that of the third transistor (Q4).
Claims6
A temperature-compensated threshold detector circuit comprising:
- an amplifier stage, having a pair of complementary trasistors, whose output is connected to a comparator stage, comprising a third transistor and a voltage reference device;
- the amplifier stage being provided with a DC feedback loop which includes a fourth transistor whose base-emitter voltage and temperature coefficient are closely matched to that of the third transistor, wherein said threshold circuit generates an output when the amplifier stage output exceeds a reference voltage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.