A portable gamma-ray spectrometer using compressed xenon

Author

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

Author_Institution

Brookhaven Nat. Lab., Upton, NY, USA

fYear

1997

fDate

9-15 Nov 1997

Firstpage

769

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; portable instruments; 100 keV to 1 MeV; ASME codes; Xe; compressed Xe; gamma-ray spectrometer; gamma-ray spectrometry; neutron irradiation; parallel plate detector; resolution; sensitivity; Energy resolution; Extraterrestrial measurements; Gamma ray detection; Gamma ray detectors; Geophysical measurements; Germanium; Instruments; Ionization chambers; Spectroscopy; Xenon;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Nuclear Science Symposium, 1997. IEEE

Conference_Location

Albuquerque, NM

ISSN

1082-3654

Print_ISBN

0-7803-4258-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/NSSMIC.1997.672696

Filename

672696