Experimental HPGe coaxial detector response and efficiency compared to Monte Carlo simulations

The peak efficiency for photons hitting the frontal surface of a medium volume n-type HPGe coaxial detector is mapped using acutely collimated beams of energies between 31 and 383keV from a 133Ba radioactive source. Simulated values obtained with the Monte Carlo radiation transport code penelope, us...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied radiation and isotopes 2016-02, Vol.108, p.64-74
Main Authors: Maidana, Nora L., Vanin, Vito R., García-Alvarez, Juan A., Hermida-López, Marcelino, Brualla, Lorenzo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computer Simulation
Computer-Aided Design
Dead layer
Detector scan
Equipment Design
Equipment Failure Analysis - methods
HPGe detection efficiency
HPGe response function
Models, Statistical
Monte Carlo Method
Monte Carlo simulation
Photons
Radiation Dosage
Radiometry - instrumentation
Radiometry - methods
Reproducibility of Results
Scattering, Radiation
Semiconductors
Sensitivity and Specificity
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Summary:The peak efficiency for photons hitting the frontal surface of a medium volume n-type HPGe coaxial detector is mapped using acutely collimated beams of energies between 31 and 383keV from a 133Ba radioactive source. Simulated values obtained with the Monte Carlo radiation transport code penelope, using a model that respected actual detector dimensions and physical constants while varying dead-layer thicknesses, allowed us to fit the experimental results in the detector bulk but not near its rim. The spectra of a 137Cs source were measured using the detector shielded from the natural background radiation, with and without a broad angle collimator. The corresponding simulated spectra, using the fitted dead-layer thicknesses, underestimate the continuum component of the spectra and overestimate the peak efficiency, by less than ten percent in the broad angle collimator arrangement. The simulated results are sensitive to the photon attenuation coefficients. •Comparison between experiments and Monte Carlo simulations of a HPGe detector.•Peak efficiency for photons hitting the detector edge are not well simulated.•Any dead layer used is not able to reproduce experimental spectrum.•Experiment-simulation agreement changes with modifications Compton cross section.•Better agreement when HPGe is irradiated with off-centered broad angle collimator.
ISSN:0969-8043
1872-9800
DOI:10.1016/j.apradiso.2015.12.001