Note (June 2004) : Unfortunately, due to several development projects that have taken priority, work on the 1020 has been delayed.  We are in the process of upgrading all our products to a new, more powerful microprocessor (the 2200SLE single grain adapter is the first to have been completed), and the 1020 will be done only when we have ported the reader firmware to the new controller.  At this point all the readers will be upgraded, and the 1020 development will be completed.  The others will be finished first as there are existing platforms for development.  We are sorry for the delay, but we figured that it is best to do it right first time.

The all new 1020 single sample TL/OSL reader re-visits the idea Daybreak pioneered in 1979 when we introduced the original basic TL reader system.  That original system cut price --and weight-- to 40 per cent of the competition's by means of simple, elegant design and economical production methods.  Since that time our 1100-series automated systems have become the standard of excellence, but their cost may be beyond many budgets.  Daybreak has developed a surprisingly economical full-featured reader system equal in performance to any existing system, limited only by lack of automation.  The 1020 is intended as an entry level system for the research lab and for the academic teaching laboratory, and as a supplement to the automated system in an established luminescence dating laboratory, where instrument time for graduate student proof-of-concept experiments is often scarce.
The 1020 comes standard with an IR LED OSL light source.  A blue OSL source is available as a option.
We have taken full advantage of the latest developments in detector and electronic technology.  We are combining the successful system architecture and control language of the 1100-series automated system with a very highly integrated microcontroller and a new integrated single photon counter.  This new technology, together with a simplified mechanical design, allows us to make a dramatic reduction in price.  We are also including software for data taking and simple data reduction, which allows upward compatibility with TLAPPLIC and FirstLight.  Data taking is presently done with a DOS-based program running under Windows, but this will be updated to a completely Windows-based program in 2001.  The front end of FirstLight, comprising the data viewer/editor and such utilities as region of interest integration and export to spreadsheets will included as well.  Computation modules for geochronology and age determination are available at extra cost with the full FirstLight license.  An IBM-compatible PC running Windows 95/98 is required, together with your choice of printer, to run this software.

Although the 1020 has an irradiator controller built in, we are developing an independent alpha/beta single sample irradiator, permitting irradiations during measurement.  This unit has a motor-driven sample holder that rotates the sample disk to a position under either the alpha or beta source as desired.  This makes it possible to dispense with shutter mechanisms entirely, and makes it simpler to shield and secure to a bench than the hand-movable irradiators from the modular system era.
 

SPECIFICATIONS
SYSTEM CONTROLLER
 Fast integrated microcontroller with 32K bytes RAM for data storage (up to 10K data points)
 Eight 10-bit ADC channels for monitoring status
 Simple but powerful ASCII command language identical to 1100-series systems
 Continuous transmission of status information with data for virtual front panel at computer
 Simple front panel status display (detailed display on host computer)
 Serial interface, RS-232 up to 38.6k baud

TEMPERATURE CONTROL
 Chromel-alumel thermocouple welded to heating plate
 Icepoint compensation
 TC open and overtemp alarms lock out heater power supply
 Ramp rate 1-25C/sec, with generalized ramp profile including preheat and hold
 Endpoint software settable 0-600C

DETECTOR
 Electron Tubes P30CWAD5A-41 photon counter (bialkali photocathode, UV glass window)
 Easily changeable detector filter pack (7-59 and BG39 standard), space for up to 15 mm of filters
 Advanced UV fresnel lens for improved detection efficiency
Simple mechanism lifts and slides the captive PMT/OSL/filter housing away from glow oven for a
safe harbor while loading (impossible to drop PMT!)

OVEN ATMOSPHERE
 Solenoid vacuum and purge valves
 16mm vacuum connection
 Thermocouple vacuum gauge
 Low volume for fast evacuation
 Needle valve for purge gas
 1/4 inch standard Swagelok connector for purge gas

OSL
 Timebase for OSL 10msec, 100 msec, 1 sec, 10 sec; may be mixed
 IR OSL exciter: 880nm intensity servoed, 40 mW/cm2
 Optional blue LED OSL exciter: intensity-servoed, 25 mW/cm2

IRRADIATOR CONTROL
 Irradiator power output pulsewidth modulated for low power consumption during use

PHYSICAL
 Power supply: external desktop CE-marked +24VDC supply, universal AC input voltage
 Physical: 30 cm x 30 cm, 7 cm high plus 20 cm height of detector and OSL exciter, weight 5 kg