The authors consider the problem of ballistic deficit, which is the loss of output signal amplitude due to the interplay between the finite charge-collection times in a detector and the characteristic time constants of the amplifier. Quantitative estimates of ballistic deficits have been developed by using numerical integration techniques on a microcomputer and by exact calculations using Laplace transforms. A practical procedure is developed in which an actual amplifier with even an unspecified complex-pole network can be accurately related to an equivalent semi-Gaussian shaping network the exact solution of which is known. Simple formulas for estimating ballistic deficits and resulting degradation in spectral energy resolutions are given.
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