A digital three-detector positron lifetime spectrometer was developed.It consists of a DRS4 waveform digitizing board and three La Br3scintillation detectors coupled to XP2020Q photomultiplier tubes.DRS4 waveform digitizing allows data sampling at up to 5 GSPS with high amplitude resolution,with good time scale linearity and stability.In the triple-coincidence,the new system could reach a 195 ps time resolution,which is better than the conventional analog apparatus with the same detectors.This spectrometer can be applied to the other scintillation timing measurements with picoseconds accuracy.
Based on the atomic superposition approximation （ATSUP） and first-principles pseudopotential plane-wave methods, the bulk and Mg mono-vacancy positron lifetime of magnesium oxide were calculated using Arponen-Pajamme and Borofiski-Nieminen positron-annihilation-rate interpolation formula respectively. The calculated values are in good agreement with experimental values and the first-principles method gives more convincing results. The positron annihilation density spectra analysis reveals that positrons mainly annihilate with valence electrons of oxygen atoms when the magnesium-vacancy appears within magnesium oxide.
The positron lifetimes of some compounds with NaCl-type crystal structure are calculated with the method of atomic superposition approximation （ATSUP） based on the theories of local-density-approximation （LDA） and general- gradient-approximation （GGA）. The systematical results are fitted to a curve as a function of lattice constants. The positron bulk lifetimes of some other compounds with NaCl-type crystal structure, which are deduced from the systematical results, are in agreement with the experimental results given in other literature.
