A method of bremsstrahlung background reduction in intrinsic Ge detectors using anti-coincidence spectroscopy

Abstract

The principal component of the background continuum of low energy photon and X-ray spectra of mixed electron capture (EC), isomeric transition (IT) and β − decay isotopes is from the β − induced bremsstrahlung. This paper describes a method of bremsstrahlung background reduction in intrinsic Ge low energy photon detectors based on anti-coincidence spectroscopy. Preliminary studies with 197Hg X-ray emitting isotope and β − emitting isotopes ( 32P and 82Br) indicate that background reduction factors of 2–3 are readily achieved by the anti-coincidence system. A comparison with the established method of bremsstrahlung background reduction employing low atomic number absorbers indicates that the performance of the anti-coincidence system is superior in the energy region 0–30 keV.