Characterization of a Germanium Detector by Means of Experimental Measurements and GEANT4 Monte Carlo Simulations

Abstract

Abstract A HPGe detector was modelled and characterized by means of experimental measurements and Monte Carlo simulations. The simulation based on Monte Carlo GEANT4 was used to characterize the potential dead layer/inactive materials and Full Energy Peak Efficiency (FEPE). The calibration of FEPE for the HPGe detector was conducted in the γ-ray energy range from 88 keV to 1332 keV, using eight standard point sources of gamma radiation: 137Cs, 133Ba, 109Cd, 65Zn, 60Co, 57Co, 54Mn, and 22Na. The efficiency dependence curves were obtained by changing the source to detector distance from 8 cm to 12 cm. a remarkable similarity in FEPE for low energy measurements ranging from 88 keV to 122 keV was obtained between the simulation results and the experimental measurements.