Case Study of 137Cs: Optimizing Counting Conditions with Different Background Region Width Selection

Abstract

Throughout the years, an optimizing counting conditions and optimum background region width determination has been carried out by several methods in gamma-ray spectroscopy. The effect of various background region widths has been the focus on digital integration methods in photopeak analysis. As an application tool of this in nuclear physics, radioactive sources has been mostly used by the lower or the higher resolution detectors; such as NaI(Tl) or HPGe gamma-ray detectors. This resolution factor influences the distinguishability of the peaks in close proximity in spectra. Therefore, a new computational and statistical approach should be implemented to decrease the error factors contributed by one of each bin content, namely the counts, in gamma-ray spectra. At this point, greater precision might be needed and reached in testing different bin region widths on each side of the range of interest for an individual peak. In specific, Gilmore's Total Peak Area (TPA) method will be used here to measure and anaylze the background region width comparisons and their effects in the precision of counting gamma-rays by a NaI(Tl) scintiallation detector.