Abstract
The common methods of analyzing gamma-ray spectra obtained from detectors capable of energy discrimination are discussed. Gamma-ray spectra generally are in the form of detector response versus discrete channel number. The methods considered for gamma-ray spectroscopy are somewhat general and can be applied to other types of spectroscopy. The general objective of spectroscopy is to obtain, at a minimum, the qualitative identification of the source (e.g., source energies or radionuclides present). However, most spectroscopy applications seek quantitative information also, as expressed by, e.g., the source strength or the radionuclide concentration. Various methods for qualitative and quantitative analysis are summarized, and illustrative examples are provided. A review of detectors used for gamma-ray spectroscopy is included.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Bacrania MK et al (2009) Large-area microcalorimeter detectors for ultra-high-resolution x ray and gamma-ray spectroscopy. IEEE Trans Nuc Sci 56(4):2299–2302
Barache D, Antoine J-P, Dereppe J-M (1997) The continuous wavelet transform, an analysis tool for NMR spectroscopy. J Magn Res 128:1–11
Bevington PR (1969) Data reduction and error analysis for the physical sciences. McGraw-Hill, New York
Cline JE (1968) Studies of detection efficiencies and operating characteristics of Ge(Li) detectors. IEEE Trans Nucl Sci NS-15:198–213
Dunn WL (1981) Inverse Monte Carlo analysis. J Comput Phys 41(11):154–166
Dunn WL, Dunn TS (1982) An assymetric model for XPS analysis. Surf Interface Anal 4(3):77–88
Dunn WL, Shultis JK (2009) Monte Carlo analysis for design and analysis of radiation detectors. Radiat Phys Chem 78:852–858
Gardner RP, Sood A (2004) A Monte Carlo simulation approach for generating NaI detector response functions (DRF’s) that accounts for nonlinearity and variable flat continua. Nucl Instrum Methods B213:87–99
Gardner RP, Xu L (2009) Status of the monte carlo library least-squares (MCLLS) approach for non-linear radiation analyzer problems. Radiat Phys Chem 78:843–851
Gentile NA (2001) Implicit monte carlo diffusion – an acceleration method for monte carlo time-dependent radiative transfer simulations. J Comput Phys 172:543–571
Gilmore G (2008) Practical gamma-ray spectrometry, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York
Haitz RH (1961) Model of the electrical behavior of a microplasma. J Appl Phys 35:1370–1376
Heath RL, Helmer RG, Schmittroth LA, Cazier GA (1967) Method for generating single gamma-ray shapes for analysis of spectra. Nucl Instrum Methods 47:281–304
IEEE/ANSI (1996) IEEE standard test procedures for germanium gamma-ray detectors, standard 325–1996
Kargar A, Brooks AC, Harrison MJ, Chen H, Awadalla S, Bindley G, McGregor DS (2009) Effect of crystal length on CdZnTe frisch collar device performance. In: IEEE Nucl Sci Symp Conf Rec, Orlando, 24 Oct–1 Nov, pp 2017–2022
Kis Z, Fazekas B, Östör J, Révay Z, Belgya T, Molnár GL, Koltay L (1998) Comparison of efficiency functions for Ge gamma-ray detectors in a wide energy range. Nucl Instrum Methods A418:374–386
Marshall III JH, Zumberge JF (1989) On-line measurements of bulk coal using prompt gamma neutron activation analysis. Nucl Geophys 3:445–459
McGregor DS (2016) Detection and measurement of radiation, Ch 8. In: Shultis JK, Faw RE (eds) Fundamentals of nuclear science and engineering, 3rd edn. CRC Press, New York
McGregor DS (2018) Materials for gamma-ray spectrometers: inorganic scintillators. Ann Rev Mater Res 48:13.1–13.33
McGregor DS, Shultis JK (2020) Radiation detection: concepts, methods, and devices. CRC Press, Boca Raton
McIntyre RJ (1961) Theory of microplasma instability of silicon. J Appl Phys 32:983–995
Mickael MW (1991) A complete inverse Monte Carlo model for energy-dispersive x ray fluorescence analysis. Nucl Instrum Methods A301:523–542
Molnar GL (2004) Handbook of prompt gamma activation analysis with neutron beams. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston
Moré JJ, Garbow BS, Hillstrom KE (1980) User’s guide for MINPACK-1, Report ANL-80-74, Argonne National Laboratory
Nafee SS (2011) A mathematical approach to determine escape peak efficiencies of high-purity germanium cylindrical detectors for prompt gamma neutron activation analysis. Nucl Tech 175:162–167
Press WH, Teukolsky SA, Vetterling WT, Flannery BP (1992) Numerical recipes in FORTRAN 77. The art of scientific computing, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, New York
Renker D (2006) Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes, history, properties and problems. Nucl Instrum Methods A567:48–56
Wollman DA, Irwin KD, Hilton GC, Dulcie LL, Newbury DE, Martinis JM (1997) High-resolution, energy-dispersive microcalorimeter spectrometer for x ray microanalysis. J Microscopy 188(3):196–223
Xu Y, Weaver JB, Healy DM Jr, Lu J (1994) Wavelet transform domain filters: a spatially selective noise filtration technique. IEEE Trans Image Proc 3(6):747–758
Yacout AM, Dunn WL (1987) Application of the inverse monte carlo method to energy-dispersive x ray fluorescence. Adv x ray Anal 30:113–120
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Dunn, W.L., McGregor, D.S., Shultis, J.K. (2021). Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy. In: Fleck, I., Titov, M., Grupen, C., Buvat, I. (eds) Handbook of Particle Detection and Imaging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93785-4_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93785-4_17
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-93784-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-93785-4
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics