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NPL

Nuclear Physics Lab

NPL
HPGe Gamma Ray Spectroscopy Education

HPGe Gamma Ray Spectroscopy Education

Author: Tim

Tim has been teaching a course on HPGe based gamma spectroscopy for over ten years now. These are excerpts from his lectures to guide folks through the overall HPGe system basics.

Outline of topics this instruction will cover.
An un-shielded HPGe with “vertical dip-stick” sitting in liquid nitrogen reservoir within a 30 liter dewar.
Cross section of the above system.
Right-angle horizontal looking “dip-stick” exploded view.
Frost building up from detector freshly pulled out of liquid nitrogen reservoir.
Block diagram of electronic’s setup for spectroscopy system.
Amplifier chain up to the point of entering the MCA.
The NIM crate, with detector’s HV bias supply and spectroscopy amplifier, USB based MCA, and data acquisition laptop.
Collected spectrum of sample with known lines.
Linear fit to scatter plot of gamma energy vs MCA channel.
“Unknown” sample, a rock collected from Petaca NM.
“Unknown’s” spectra – which the gamma ray catalog identifies as thorium ore.
This is a 1-hour acquisition without any shielding around the detector. Many lines are seen, demonstrating our radioactive world.
Here the detector is almost entirely encapsulated in a shield, but left with the lid open. Again a 1 hour count.
Here the detector is almost entirely encapsulated in a shield, but left with the lid open. Again a 1 hour count.
Finally, a 1 hour count with the fully shielded detector.
Finally, a 1 hour count with the fully shielded detector.
Compilation of the three spectra.
This is a demonstration of a sequence of 5 minute counts, following the centroid of energy peak immediately after turning on the NIM crate, hence spectroscopy amplifier, bias supply, etc. Also plotted is the same data 24 hours later after the electronics have thermally stabilized.
Back
  • NPL-Home
    • About Us
    • Accelerators
      • Betatrons
        • Plasma Betatron Coil Form: Design and Construction
        • Pulsed B-Dot Measurement
        • CW B-Dot Measurement
        • First Beam Attempts
      • Cyclotrons
        • 12-Inch Cyclotron
        • Axial Betatron Motion
        • Floating Wire Technique
        • 12-Inch Cyclotron Papers
      • DC Potential Drop
    • Experiments
      • Alpha Spark Detector
      • Jay’s Diffusion Cloud Chamber
      • Tim’s Wilson Cloud Chamber
      • Deuterated Target Preparation
      • Gamma-Gamma Coincidence
      • Measurement of excited Np237 half-life via the alpha-gamma coincidence method.
      • MUONS
        • Life & Times of a Muon
      • Neutrons
        • Neutron Diffusion Time Measurement
        • Neutron Induced Gamma Rays
        • Neutron Detection with He-3
      • Photography
        • AVCO Rotating Mirror
        • Dark Room
        • Fast Flash Photography
        • Rotating Drum Camera
        • Schlieren Photography
        • X-Rayted Photos
      • Rutherford Scattering
      • Thermoluminescence
    • History
      • The Kerst Collection
      • Heisenberg Cube
      • Koeth Collection – Consumer Products
      • Koeth Collection – Radiation Detection Instruments
      • Koeth Collection – Reactors & Weapons
      • Koeth Collection – Games & Collectables
    • High Voltage & Pulsed Power
      • Blue Thunder
      • Jacob’s Ladder
      • Krytrons
      • Marx Generator
      • Electric Watermelon
      • Tesla Coils
        • Jay’s Tesla Coil
        • Variacs
      • Quarter Crushing
    • Plasma
      • Fusors
        • FUSOR I
        • FUSOR II
        • Scott's Fusor
        • Fusor Simulations
      • The Mirror Machine
      • Pinch Machines
        • Linear Pinch
        • Toroidal Pinch
        • Pinching
    • Spectroscopy
      • Alpha Particle Spectroscopy
      • Gamma Ray Spectroscopy
        • HPGe Gamma Ray Spectroscopy Education
        • HPGe Systems
        • Cosmogenic Be-7
        • NAS Wildwood Mystery
        • Autunite
        • Trinitite
        • Tc-99m : Cardiac Stress Test
      • Software & Hardware
        • Refurbishment of LN2 Dewars
        • DIY Matlab MCA
        • Amateur Canberra Spectroscopy System
        • Antique MCA
        • NIM Modules
          • Canberra Nim Modules
          • ORTEC Nim Devices

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