
LS 6000 Scintillation System User’s Manual
PN 247971-F
1-2
Introduction
General Description
Confidence Pack
The requires the Productivity Pack and includes color detection and correction, Lum-Ex™
for luminescence correction and two-phase monitor.
Data Management Pack
This includes the Data Buffer and Transfer System and the Radioactive Waste Manager.
Environmental Pack
This includes low level count mode and Alpha/Beta Discrimination.
Many of these options can also be purchased separately and many require additional options
to operate. For detailed information on options, contact your local Beckman Coulter Sales
Office.
This User’s Guide includes instructions for the Basic System, Value System, Productivity
Pack, and many of the options. A few of the options have their own instructions, which are
designed to be added at the back of this User’s Guide.
Principles of Operation
Liquid scintillation involves the detection and counting of radioactive decay. The radioactive
sample is combined with a liquid scintillation cocktail or solid scintillator. Decay of a
radionuclide produces an ionizing particle. Part of the kinetic energy of this ionizing particle
is transferred to the “scintillator” which converts the energy of the particle emitted during the
radioactive decay process into light which is detected by the LS system. The number of
photons produced from one ionizing particle is proportional to its kinetic energy. All photons
produced by one ionizing particle are emitted isotropically over a nanosecond time scale.
The collecting optics of the LS system direct the photons emitted to either of two
photomultiplier tubes (PMT’s). If both PMT’s are activated by one photon burst, then one
nuclear decay event is registered and converted into a measurable electrical pulse. The
voltage pulse produced by the PMT’s is proportional to the number of photons. Therefore,
the pulse height at the output of the tubes is proportional to the energy of the particle.
The pulses from the PMT’s are analyzed, converted to digital form, and stored in the
appropriate channel of a multichannel analyzer, corresponding to the particle energy. The
data accumulated in the multichannel analyzer over the counting time of the sample is used
to determine the energy of the particles in the sample and the rate (counts per minute, or
cpm) of radio-active decay in the sample. The cpm is the total number of pulses in the
channels of the multichannel analyzer divided by the total time in minutes for obtaining the
counts.
Operating the Instrument
To use the liquid scintillation instrument, the samples are placed in vials together with a
scintillation cocktail or a solid scintillator. The vials are placed in the racks provided, and the
racks are placed into the sample changer of the instrument.
During operation, the racks are moved in a counter-clockwise direction in the sample
changer. When a rack reaches the right rear most position, each vial within the rack is
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