Study of scattering effects in low-energy gamma-ray spectrometry

The photon-scattering effect was studied in the low-energy range 15–80 keV with planar and coaxial germanium detectors. Different experimental tests have been conducted with a point source, progressively reducing the matter around the radioactive deposit, to investigate the origin and characteristics of the different spectrum components due to scattered photons (bumps). These tests were completed by Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, a peak-shape calibration was performed using several radionuclides (109Cd, 241Am, 133Ba, 137Cs and 152Eu). This allowed in identifying the main contributions to the bumps and improving the spectra processing.