PRECISE MEASUREMENT OF DEAD-TIME

Four methods are discussed by which dead times of the non-extending type can be determined experimentally. Two methods using statistical pulses were improved by eliminating uncertainties due to counting statistics. However, it was concluded from a comparison of the four methods that those using periodical pulses are not only less time-consuming but are preferable if high-precision values are aimed at. A dead-time unit with quartz oscillator-based dead times of the non-extending type was tested using all of the four methods. Measurements within a period of three years indicated that the unit investigated here has subnanosecond stability for each of the adjusted dead-time values.