Evaluation of the Central Copper Contact Pin Effect in High-Energy Region in Gamma-ray Spectrometry

TL;DR

This study investigates how the copper contact pin inside a gamma-ray detector affects its efficiency at high energies, emphasizing the importance of including such geometric details in Monte Carlo simulations.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the copper contact pin causes up to 6% efficiency reduction at high energies, highlighting the need to include it in detector modeling.

Findings

Copper contact pin reduces efficiency by up to 6% at high energies

Including the contact pin in simulations improves accuracy of efficiency calculations

Modeling geometric details is crucial for precise gamma-ray spectrometry

Abstract

The detector must be modeled in the most accurate way when Monte Carlo simulation method is used for efficiency calculation in gamma-ray spectrometric studies. This study aims to investigate the effect of the copper contact pin inside the detector on the efficiency of the HPGe detector for high gamma-ray energies. Simulated efficiencies were determined for 6 different energies in the energy range of 1460.8 keV up to 2614.5 keV in point and cylindrical source geometry. According to the modeling using PHITS Monte Carlo simulation code, the presence of copper contact pin at high gamma-ray energies caused a decrease of up to 6% in detector efficiency. It was emphasized that this ignored parameter should be included in the modeling like all other geometric parameters used in detector modeling, by showing the effect on the efficiency.