DIY_particle_detector

Nice to hear. I'm the creator of Kitspace.org and I've spent a lot of time making the 1-click ordering work. It's an open source platform by the way: https://github.com/kitspace I'm far from an expert on this subject and am not sure if it fits the definition of "scintillation", but here's another particle detector that uses photodiodes: - electron-detector: https://kitspace.org/boards/github.com/ozel/diy_particle_det... - alpha-spectrometer: https://kitspace.org/boards/github.com/ozel/diy_particle_det...

The same PCB can be used to build an alpha spectrometer. This variant is a little harder to use correctly which is why we are not selling it as a kit yet. You can however use the links in the page to buy most of the required components from 3rd parties. https://kitspace.org/boards/github.com/ozel/diy_particle_det...

In principle that is a good idea and nice digital version of analog pulse shaping. However, the pulses have a very distinctive shape (not visible in the blog post picture, but here in figure 7/9: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/19/4264). My programs use the trigger level just to select which waveform snippets are recorded. The peaks themselves are then identified by their steep slopes which shows up nicely in the derivatives: https://github.com/ozel/DIY_particle_detector/blob/90c180207...

The circuit used in the blog article is a very much simplified version of the Maxim one. And probably not so much worse in terms of signal to noise ratio: https://github.com/ozel/DIY_particle_detector/ The ion chambers are impressive because even lower-cost. But they also detect the presence of people, touches and what not. :) My favourite aspect of silicon sensors like those PIN diodes is that you get the absorbed particle energy as well. In particular with alpha particles that gets quite interesting when measuring for example old ceramics painted with uranium glaze ('Fiestaware').

or one of those even cheaper 16bit USB soundcards https://github.com/ozel/DIY_particle_detector/wiki/Soundcard... I believe Steve (who wrote the blog) might have had the wrong cable for his other computer (3-pin vs. 4-pin 3.5 mm jack)

If you've looked at the open source particle detector[1] you see that the "sensor" can be a reverse biased diode. Nothing very fancy. [1] https://github.com/ozel/DIY_particle_detector

Let me just point here again to the project entries on Kitspace.org: https://kitspace.org/boards/github.com/ozel/diy_particle_det... https://kitspace.org/boards/github.com/ozel/diy_particle_det... Yes, this project is very much doable for electronic beginners with a knack for science (16-year olds who have never soldered manage it well if guided a little bit). The parts are easy to solder and ordering the circuit board will make your life much easier in order to get it working. BTW, no one earns money with the kitspace website above. This is community-run and intended to make open hardware projects easier to build by simplifying the ordering procedures. The parts and board suppliers linked on kitspace should cover most of the world.

Hey, project owner here. Glad you all enjoy this! :-) I've never built my particle detectors on a breadboard. It is extremely likely that they will oscillate or frustrate in another way. You have to keep in mind that the amplification is enormously large, per particle only a few thousands of charges are being generated and turned into a still tiny voltage. The lower 10M-feedback electron-detector version works if _soldered_ on a prototyping/veroboard. Those with regular hole patterns - if the parts are put really close together. Please don't be put off by the circuit board requirement, I have listed it on kitspace such that it is really easy and cheap to get one: https://kitspace.org/boards/github.com/ozel/diy_particle_det... Even if you have never ordered a PCB, it should be straight forward using kitspace as a proxy to get it right. Fo

I don’t think that makes much of a difference to the part selection (it’s the same board). If you look at the schematics they say you can use either through hole or SMD. SMD is preferred: https://github.com/ozel/DIY_particle_detector/blob/master/ha...

There seem to be builds using a through hole resistor for R3: https://github.com/ozel/DIY_particle_detector/blob/master/ha... The opamp appears to be configured as a transimpediance amplifier. 40M is a lot of gain. Probably keeping traces short and the resistor away from the board helps. That’s probably why they mount the resistor vertically when they use a through hole in the pic above (my guess anyway). Using a SMD keeps the traces short, which might be why they use it in the current version. Another option could be just to air wire the resistor. Sometimes people bend up the legs on the opamp and wire the resistor/input directly to the IC pin. I think you might have issues on a breadboard. Air wiring the whole thing would probably work. Or using protoboard, trying to keep the traces short.

The GitHub project page has a better and more comprehensive introduction than the CERN page: * https://github.com/ozel/DIY_particle_detector/ Paper (Open Access, click "Download PDF"): * Smartphone and Tablet-Based Sensing of Environmental Radioactivity: Mobile Low-Cost Measurements for Monitoring, Citizen Science, and Educational Purposes https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/19/4264