Innovative analytical approach to estimate side-hole type parallelepiped sodium iodide scintillation detector efficiencies

Abstract

The geometric and absolute total detection efficacies of a parallelepiped sodium iodide (with a cylindrical side-hole) detector were calculated and compared to the simulated Monte Carlo and experimental data described in the literature. This new-shaped detector is characteristically meant to be employed for low-level radioactive specimens in γ-ray-spectroscopy and nuclear reactions because of its extraordinarily high γ-ray-efficiency. An innovative systematic theoretical method is used herein to calculate the efficiency of a cylindrical side-hole (left empty for isotropic radiating sample access)-type parallelepiped (A × B × C) sodium iodide scintillation detector. The contrast of the geometric (εg) and absolute total detection (ε) efficacies for point-specimen-geometry at numerous specimen-to-detector distances (h) and in the energy range of 0.511–1.332 MeV showed that method reported by us is beneficial in the efficiency evaluation of side-hole-type parallelepiped scintillation detectors.