A portable gamma-ray spectrometer using compressed xenon

Author

Mahler, G.J. ; Yu, B. ; Smith, G.C. ; Kane, W.R. ; Lemley, J.R.

Author_Institution

Brookhaven Nat. Lab., Upton, NY, USA

Volume

45

Issue

3

fYear

1998

fDate

6/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1029

Lastpage

1033

Abstract

An ionization chamber using compressed xenon has been designed and built for gamma-ray spectrometry. The device is based on signal measurement from a parallel plate detector, with the gas enclosure constructed specifically for packaging into a portable instrument; thus, appropriate engineering practices using ASME codes have been followed. The portable system comprises two small containers that can be setup for operation in just a few minutes. Its sensitivity is 100 keV to over 1 MeV, with a resolution at 662 keV of 2.5% FWHM for uniform irradiation, and 2% FWHM for collimated irradiation, comparable to the best ever with compressed xenon. It also exhibits greater specificity than most scintillators, such as NaI. The device is insensitive to neutron damage and has a low power requirement

Keywords

gamma-ray spectrometers; ionisation chambers; Xe; compressed Xe; ionization chamber; neutron damage; portable gamma-ray spectrometer; resolution; sensitivity; Anodes; Containers; Detectors; Electrodes; Electrons; Energy resolution; Ionization chambers; Spectroscopy; Temperature; Xenon;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.682701

Filename

682701