New concepts for scintillator/HgI[sub 2] gamma ray spectroscopy

Conference · Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1994 · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States)

OSTI ID:6974601

Wang, Y J; Iwanczyk, J S; Patt, B E ^[1]

---

1. Xsirius Inc., Camarillo, CA (United States)

The construction of a high energy resolution gamma ray detector consisting of a scintillator/mercuric iodide photodetector combination has been investigated. Several HgI[sub 2] photodetectors have been fabricated and tested with standard NIM electronics. The energy resolution of a scintillator/HgI[sub 2] pair was found to be 4.75%, full width at half maximum, for 662 keV [sup 137]Cs gamma ray photons. Of five detectors fabricated with the new technique, all produced resolutions better than 5.6% FWHM. This technology makes it possible to reliably produce high quality HgI[sub 2] photodetectors. New design concepts for the HgI[sub 2] photocell, including the transparent entrance electrode, detector geometry, and detector packaging, are described in the paper. Advantages of gamma ray spectrometers based upon crystal scintillators optically coupled to HgI[sub 2] photodetectors (in contrast to coupling the scintillators to the more conventional light sensors, i.e., photomultiplier tubes (PMTs)) include greater ruggedness, improved energy resolution, markedly smaller size and weight, reduced power, and insensitivity to magnetic field perturbations.

• OSTI ID: 6974601
• Report Number(s): CONF-931051--
• Journal Information: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States), Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States) Vol. 41:4Pt1; ISSN 0018-9499; ISSN IETNAE
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440103* -- Radiation Instrumentation-- Nuclear Spectroscopic Instrumentation
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CESIUM 137
CESIUM ISOTOPES
DESIGN
EFFICIENCY
GAMMA SPECTROMETERS
GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY
HGI2 SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
PERFORMANCE
QUANTUM EFFICIENCY
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIOISOTOPES
SCINTILLATION COUNTERS
SCINTILLATOR-PHOTODIODE DETECTORS
SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
SPECTROMETERS
SPECTROSCOPY
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES