1 2 3 4 5 6

one 5 pF capcitor can be used alternativly,

C1 or C2 must be shorted in this case with
solder, a piece of wire or a 0 Ohm resistor

C1 C2
A 10p 10p C6 3n3 A
R3 should be either an SMD C4 470n case-mounted parts
0805 part (preferred) or a
vertically mounted regular 40M 4k7 1M
leaded resistor (THT part) R3 +9V R5 +9V +9V
R4 SW1A
+9V 1
1 2 BT1
J1 2
TLE2072 9V battery clip

4k7
R1

10k
R6
1 8
Out1 Vcc GND
2
In1-
3 C10 BNC socket
In1+ R8
7 10k Output 1 1
Out2
C9 J2
see comments

see comments

see comments

6 2
In2- J3

2k2
R9
BPX61
100n

2
4 5
C3 Gnd In2+
D1

D2

D3

D4
6n8

15k
GND

R2
U1 C5 C7 C8
100n

10k
R7
GND GND
100n 100n 47u

The passive low-pass filter R8/C9 limits the high frequency band for
the largest & steep alpha particle signal peaks. The output filter C10/R9
matches the impedance such that an external microphone is recognzied
B GND GND GND GND GND GND GND GND GND GND GND with modern headset sockets of laptops and mobile phones (c.f. 4-pin mini-jack
B
connector diagram on the right). It can be omitted if a regular oscilloscope
records the signals but that might require a new energy calibration using
a reference alpha source if alpha energies shall be measured precisely.
Most microphone and audio line-in connectors expect an output resistance
between 2 and 10 kilo Ohm. The reference energy calibration in the paper was
carried out with the default values as written in the schematic (R9 as 2.2k etc.).
For measuring characteristic energies of alpha particles, one BPX61 with a destroyed glass
window is needed. Alternatively up to 4 x BPW34F(A) diodes can be populated (like in V1.1).
In this case only electrons will be detectable plus few gamma photons as with the BPX61.
The advantages of using 4 x BPW34F(A) diodes are:
- x4 increased sensitivity towards ionizing radiation (x4 sensitive volume)
- less sensitive to disturbing electromagnetic interferences (due to lower signal amplification)
- less sensitive to stray light (due to the black plastic cases of the BPW34F(A) diodes)
- much less susceptible to the microphony effect / mechanical vibrations (due to lower signal amp.)

Following changes are need for the 4-diode variant using BPW34F(A) diodes:
D1 - D4 = BPW34F or BPW34FA, from Osram or Vishay
R3 = 10M
R4 = 1k
C R5= 100k C
R8 = 0 (short with a wire)
C4 = 100n
C6 = 10p
C9 = not needed (do not populate)
All hardware & software source files plus detailed instructions on:
www.github.com/ozel/DIY_particle_detector
Details on the physics of the sensors & reference measurements:
www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/19/4264
(www.doi.org/10.3390/s19194264)

Suitable aluminium die-cast enclosures (besides your favourite candy tin box): Low-Cost DIY Particle Detector for Ionising Radiation
MK1 Multicomp G102MF (Farnell nr. 1902552), fits precisely including edge mount screws Oliver Keller, oliver.michael.keller@cern.ch
via for coincidence sandwich http://uk.farnell.com/multicomp/g102mf/box-diecast-90x36x30mm/dp/1902552
Deltron 480-0010 (Farnell nr. 1774842), no mounting holes inside A spectrometer for measuring the energy of alpha particles and electrons.
MK2 http://uk.farnell.com/deltron-enclosures/480-0010/box-diecast-ip68/dp/1774842 CERN Open Hardware License (CERN OHL V1.2)
via for coincidence sandwich
CERN
MK3 Sheet: /
D MK5 MK6 MK7 D
via for coincidence sandwich File: DIY_detector.sch
M3 support M3 support M3 support
MK4 Title: DIY Particle Detector
via for coincidence sandwich GND GND GND Size: A4 Date: 2019-07-31 Rev: V1.2
KiCad E.D.A. kicad 5.1.5-52549c584ubuntu19.10.1 Id: 1/1
1 2 3 4 5 6