A stand-alone Mossbauer spectrometer based on the MC68008 microprocessor

Abstract

A Mossbauer spectrometer with four inputs and two independent drive waveforms has been designed and constructed using a Motorola MC68008 microprocessor. The spectrometer operates independently in a stand-alone mode and full PC control is achieved via an RS232C serial link. Most spectrometer functions have been realized with software; data accumulation and channel advancing are carried out using an interrupt technique. A sophisticated protocol for the serial link allows straightforward spectrometer control and data transfer via a PC which also acts as a user interface. The spectrometer, which is also suitable for collection of X-ray diffraction patterns, features real-time display of spectral counts on the PC monitor.