Detectors limiting speed

The setup shown in Fig. 5.49 can, in principle, be used to record fast changes in the brain at 4 laser wavelengths and 32 detector positions. However, the limited speed of the fibre switch normally allows one to record sequences only for one or two source positions at a time. The result is a total number of 128 to 256 waveforms each 50 to 100 ms or 32 to 64 per TCSPC module. The corresponding readout rate in the memory swapping mode is well within the range of currently used TCSPC modules. However, improved fibre switches may allow one to multiplex a larger number of source positions at a rate of 100 s" or faster. The data transfer rate then exceeds 10 Mbyte/s, and precautions have to be taken to sustain this rate over a longer time. 

The INTROS Flaw Detector is able to inspect ropes moving through the magnetic head at speed 0...2 m/s. Limit of sensitivity to wire brake is 1% of the rope meatallic cross-section area, the LMA measure accuracy is not less than 2%. 

Quantitative Analysis. The efficiency of the detector is such that almost 100% of the X-rays entering it will produce a pulse, but the pulse processing speed limits the rate at which X-rays can be counted. If the count rate is less than a few thousand counts per second, then most of the incoming pulses are processed, but as the count rate rises an increasing fraction of the pulses are rejected. The live time during an analysis when the detector was counting is thus less than the elapsed time, and the EDS system records both times in order that the true count rate may be measured. 

SPC techniques offer the advantage of low noise detection, providing / -values of 1-2 times lower than in analog detection. Although this can in principle result in four times faster acquisition speed this gain in speed is not realized in practice. In SPC, the comparatively high dead-times of detectors and electronics limits the acquisition speed. SPC system should be operated at count rates below the inverse of the dead-time of the system (electronics... 

A detector plays an important part in achieving overall performance when optimizing for very short run times with reasonable peak capacities. The detector should match the optimized LC conditions in terms of flow rate and dispersion. The electronics must accurately capture the peak form produced by the column this is most important for quantitative analyses. The data quality may be limited by the laws of physics at high speed. The amount of data produced over time can become an issue. 

The main advantages of CE are its ease of use, speed and efficiency, while disadvantages are matrix effects causing shifts in retention time and variations in peak area response, non-gaussian peak shapes for certain molecules which are difficult to integrate, and limited detector sensitivity. 

The promise of monolith is the achievement of a higher performance at a lower backpressure than a packed bed. While this is true in principle, current implementations are limited by the fact that the external wall to the structure is made from PEEK. At the time of this writing, the commercially available monoliths can only be used up to a pressure of 20MPa (200 atm, 3000 psi), while packed bed steel columns can be used up to double this pressure and higher. Also, the preparation of the monolith appears to be cumbersome. At the current time, the silica-based monoliths are available only with an internal diameter of 4.6mm. The speed is thus also limited by the flow rate achievable by the HPLC instrument. At the same time, the detector of choice today is the mass spectrometer, which can tolerate only much... 

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