A Flexible Positron Spectrometer for the Undergraduate Laboratory

TL;DR

This paper introduces a versatile positron spectrometer designed for undergraduate labs, enabling students to explore various positron and gamma-ray phenomena through hands-on experiments and software integration.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel, flexible positron spectrometer with multiple detectors and software for educational experiments in positron physics.

Findings

Demonstrated gamma-ray energy spectroscopy and Compton scattering.

Enabled PET scanning and positron lifetime measurements.

Facilitated studies of gamma-ray polarimetry and 3-gamma annihilation.

Abstract

Positron physics touches on a wide-ranging variety of fields from materials science to medical imaging to high energy physics. In this paper we present the development of a flexible positron annihilation spectrometer appropriate for the undergraduate laboratory. Four NaI gamma-ray ($\gamma$-ray) detectors are connected to an oscilloscope-based data acquisition system. Coupled with the software we developed, these detectors allow students to explore a variety of positron and $\gamma$-ray phenomena. These include $\gamma$-ray energy spectroscopy, Compton scattering, PET scanning fundamentals, speed of light measurements with $\gamma$-rays, historically important polarimetry of annihilation radiation, 3-$\gamma$ annihilation radiation observations, and positron lifetime spectroscopy of materials. We present the developed apparatus and examples of experiments it can perform here.