Gamma Ray Spectroscopy

Lizelle Niit; Partners: Kevin Murray, Daniel Adamiak

April 28, 2014
Contents
1 Introduction and Aim 2
2 Theoretical background 2
2.1 The photoelectric eect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.2 Compton scattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3 Pair production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.4 Backscatter peaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.5 Electron capture peaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.6 Decay schemes for nuclei involved in this experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 Equipment and Methods 5
4 Results 7
4.1 Calibration function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.2 Histogram plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.3 Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5 Analysis 11
5.1 Energy resolution function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
6 Discussion 13
6.1 Discussion of histogram features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.1.1
137
Cs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.1.2
60
Co . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.1.3
22
Na . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.1.4 Unknown source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.2 Background when no source is present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.3 Resolution function of NaI detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.4 Relative usefulness of parts of the spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
7 References 15
Abstract
This experiment involved measuring the decay spectra of six dierent radioactive sources
and examining the energy resolution function of the detector. It was found that the energy
resolution function depended on the energy of the incoming gamma rays, so that the line
width was inversely proportional to the energy. An unknown source was identied.
1
1 Introduction and Aim
Our aim was to study the modes of decay of four dierent radioactive sources. We aimed to iden-
tify one unknown source. We also studied the energy resolution function of the detector.
2 Theoretical background
When gamma rays enter a NaI crystal they interact with the electrons in the crystal in various
ways which will be detailed below.
In the case of the photoelectric eect a gamma ray ionises a single electron. This electron then
imparts energy to many other electrons. For example, if a gamma ray has an energy of 1 MeV
and imparts all its energy to a single electron, that electron can raise on the order of 100000
other electrons to higher energy levels. (This is assuming it takes on the order of 10 eV to excite
an electron to a higher energy level.
Photoelectrons, Compton electrons and/or electron-positron pairs are produced, all of which
have energies less than or equal to the incident gamma ray energy. These electrons cause
ionization in the sodium iodide, and a fraction of their energy is converted into a burst of
visible or ultraviolet photons - a scintillation.
A proportion of these photons enter the photomultiplier, causing a voltage pulse. The amplitude
of the pulse is proportional to the gamma ray energy.
There are three ways that gamma rays (which are high-energy photons) interact with mat-
ter:
Photoelectric eect
Compton scattering
Pair production
We will discuss each of these in turn.
2.1 The photoelectric eect
All of a protons energy gets transferred to a single electron. The incident photon disappears
and the bound electron is freed from its shell.
The energy of the freed electron is E
e
= E

E
b
, where E

is the gamma ray energy and E

b
is
the energy binding the electron to its shell [2].
Photopeaks are generated through the transfer of energy from gamma rays to electrons. These
primary electrons are freed from their shells and pass on energy to other electrons. These
electrons give o photons in the visible to ultraviolet range, and those photons enter the photo-
multiplier tube. The photomultiplier tube then generates a voltage pulse, which is proportional
to the energy deposited by the incoming gamma ray. In the case of the photoelectric eect the
gamma rays deposit all their energy, so the voltage pulse is proportional to the energy of the
gamma rays.
2
This is why the photopeak forms a relatively distinct peak compared to the Compton edge:
each gamma ray has the same energy, and because this energy is proportional to the voltage
pulse generated we have a scenario where multiple pulses fall into the same channel bin.
2.2 Compton scattering
During Compton scattering, a gamma ray transfers only part of its energy to an electron. A
gamma ray hits an electron at an angle and is scattered away at an angle . The energy
transferred to the electron is given by E
e
= E

, where E

= E

1
1+E

(1cos()
m
0
c
2
.
Hence, at = 0, E
e
= E

[1 1] = 0, so the gamma ray and electron do not interact.

At = the maximum amount of energy is transferred. However, even then E
e
= E

1
1
1+E

2
m
0
c
2

< E

, so not all of the gamma rays energy is transferred to the electron.

Because there is a range of possible scattering angles (0 to ), the amount of energy transferred
to electrons is inconsistent. This means that the voltage pulse generated in the photomultiplier
tube is inconsistent and is not proportional to the energy of the incoming gamma rays. Therefore
the pulses generated due to the Compton eect fall into a range of bins that extends from the
bin corresponding to zero energy to the bin corresponding to the energy that is transferred
when the scattering angle is .
2.3 Pair production
A gamma ray is converted to an electron-positron pair close to the nucleus [2]. The gamma ray
must have an energy of at least 1022keV for pair production to take place.
...............................
The above processes result in energetic electrons moving around the detector. They ionise other
electrons; each primary electron can ionise N = E
e
/ other electrons, where is the energy
needed to ionise a single electron.
2.4 Backscatter peaks
Gilmore and Hemingway [2] point out that most gamma rays are scattered through a large
angle by the [detectors] shielding. This is called backscattering. It turns out that the energies
of backscattered gamma rays fall within the range 0.200 to 0.300 MeV, leading to a broad
peak.
2.5 Electron capture peaks
Certain nuclides undergo
+
decay according to this formula: p n+e
+
+
e
. The free positron
comes into contact with an electron and annihilates before reaching the detector. Two gamma
rays of energy 0.511 MeV each are given o. They travel in opposite directions to conserve
momentum and so the detector detects at most one of them.
3
2.6 Decay schemes for nuclei involved in this experiment
Decay scheme for
22
Na [3]
Figure 1: Decay scheme for
22
Na
Decay scheme for
137
Cs [4]
Figure 2: Decay scheme for
137
Cs
Decay scheme for
60
Co [5]
Figure 3: Decay scheme for
60
Co
4
3 Equipment and Methods
Figure 4: Equipment used in the experiment
The detector consisted of a NaI crystal and a photomultiplier tube. The 5 cm diameter by 5
cm long crystal was mounted on the photomultiplier tube. A high voltage source with positive
polarity powered the photomultiplier.
Signals from the photomultiplier were sent to a pre-amplier, then to a linear amplier and
5
then to a delay amplier. The purpose of the delay amplier was to synchronise signals from
the linear amplier with signals coming from the gate and delay generator (GDD). Signals were
sent from the delay amplier to an analogue to digital converter (ADC).
Pulses from the linear amplier were also sent through a timing single channel analyser (TSCA).
The TSCA outputted a 5V logic pulse when the input pulse from the linear amplier fell within
a set range. The purpose of this gate was to lter out noise: since background radiation occurs
mainly at low energies, we could simply set the lower bound high enough that most noise was
eliminated but low enough that we did not lose essential data.
The logic pulses from the TSCA were reshaped by the gate and delay generator (GDG) and
then used to determine whether the MCA would process signals from the ADC.
The ADC was connected to a multi-channel analyser (MCA). The MCA only processed signals
from the ADC which were accompanied by logic pulses from the GDG.
The MCA sorted the digital pulses to form a spectrum, and was connected to a computer which
was running software to acquire the data.
An oscilloscope was used to view pulses travelling through various parts of the circuit.
To take the measurements, we placed the radioactive sources close to the detector in turn,
and manipulated the lower bound for the gate until we had eliminated most noise without
eliminating signicant data.
Since the histograms were of counts versus channel number instead of counts versus energy, we
had to come up with a calibration function to convert channel number to energy. We plotted
channel numbers versus previously known energies for
60
Co and
137
Cs. We guessed that the
function was linear and tted a straight line to the data. The parameters of this line then gave
us a way of converting channel numbers to energies.
Analysis:
We used Origin to plot histograms of counts versus channel number. We t gaussians to the
photopeaks and recorded the means, sigmas and their errors. I used Python for the rest of my
analysis.
We also recorded the approximate positions of the Compton edges.
We plotted E/E versus E in order to examine the energy resolution function of the detec-
tor.
Uncertainty analysis:
For peaks that were not photopeaks, I estimated the range in which the true value of the peak
denitely lay. Then I calculated the uncertainty from that range by the formula |maxmin|/(2

6).
To get uncertainties for photopeaks, I used two methods:
Method 1: I calculated uncertainties for the energies (on the x axis of the calibration
graph) using the formula y
error
=

x
2
var a + var b + 2xcov ab. I used this method in the
rest of my analysis.
Method 2: I calculated the dierences between the energies of the two Na peaks and the
inverse of the calibration function f
1
(ADC) and used those dierences to get percentage
uncertainties. This method was only used for comparison with Method 1.
6
4 Results
4.1 Calibration function
Peaks used for calibration:
Co60 peak 1
Co60 peak 2
Cs137 peak 1
Figure 5: Calibration line
y = ax + b = 342.83307364x + 1.14335137 (1)
where x is the ADC value and y is the energy.
(u(a))
2
= 1.73668 u(m) =

21.95161862
(u(b))
2
= 1.89857 u(k) =

33.3489816
However, the uncertainties are correlated so one cannot simply use the above uncertainties to
get the uncertainty of a specic y value.
Covariance matrix:
21.95161862 -26.89940113
-26.89940113 33.3489816
The uncertainty on y values of the calibration graph:
y
error
=

x
2
var a + var b + 2xcov ab
7
4.2 Histogram plots
Figure 6: Histogram for
137
Cs
Figure 7: Histogram for
60
Co
8
Figure 8: Histogram for
22
Na
Figure 9: Histogram for unknown source
4.3 Tables
Table 2 shows the percentage errors arrived at by comparing Na22 peak 1 and peak 2 with
calibration line.
9
Energy (MeV) Energy error (MeV)
Cs-137 0.6564 0.0030
Co-60 peak 1 1.1746 0.0019
Co-60 peak 2 1.3316 0.0025
Na-22 peak 1 0.5105 0.0038
Na-22 peak 2 1.2727 0.0022
Unknown 1 0.6648 0.0030
Table 1: Experimentally determined energies and their errors
Energies
0.6620
1.1730
1.3330
0.5120
1.2700
Table 2: Theoretical energies (MeV)
Method 1 Method 2
Na peak 1 0.75 0.29
Na peak 2 0.18 0.21
Table 3: Error comparison (percentage error)
Compton edge energy
Cs-137 0.411
Co-60 0.904
Na-22 0.288
Unknown 0.437
Table 4: Compton edge energies (MeV)
Calculated energy
Cs-137 0.4777
Co-60 1.173 MeV decay 0.9632
Co-60 1.333 MeV decay 1.1186
Na-22 annihilation peak 0.3416
Na-22 1.27 MeV decay 1.0573
Table 5: Compton edge theoretical energies (MeV)
10
Min value Max value
Cs-137 0.3588 0.4492
Co-60 0.8114 0.9434
Na-22 0.2736 0.3214
Unknown 0.3091 0.4649
Table 6: Compton edge min and max energies (MeV)
Uncertainty (MeV)
Cs-137 0.018
Co-60 0.027
Na-22 0.0098
Unknown 0.032
Table 7: Compton edge uncertainties
Peak Energy value (MeV)
Cs137 backscatter 0.2069+/-0.0079
Co60 other 1 0.2417+/-0.0071
Co60 other 2 0.895+/-0.016
Na22 other 0.2000+/-0.0071
Unknown other 1 0.207+/-0.013
Unknown other 2 1.173+/-0.062
Table 8: Other peaks
5 Analysis
11
5.1 Energy resolution function
Figure 10: Energy resolution function for the NaI detector
Figure 11: Energy resolution function for the NaI detector (str line)
12
6 Discussion
6.1 Discussion of histogram features
6.1.1
137
Cs
Photopeaks
The photopeak of
137
Cs had a mean value of 0.6564 0.0030 MeV.
Compton edge
The compton edge for
137
Cs is at 0.411 0.018.
The predicted value is at 0.4777. This does not agree with the measured value within the above
uncertainty.
Backscatter peak
The backscatter peak for
137
Cs is at 0.2069 0.0079 This makes sense, because according
to Gilmore and Hemingway the backscattered gamma rays have an energy of 0.200 to 0.300
MeV.
6.1.2
60
Co
The rst and second photopeaks of Co60 are at 1.1746 0.0019 MeV and 1.3316 0.0025 MeV
respectively.
The Compton edge is at 0.904 0.027. The predicted value is at 0.9632 or 1.1186 MeV,
depending on which decay mode we look at. Hence the values do not agree.
6.1.3
22
Na
The second and third peaks of
22
Na are at 0.5105 0.0038 MeV and 1.2727 0.0022 MeV
respectively. The second peak is an electron capture peak and agrees with the expected value
of 0.511 MeV. The third peak is a photopeak and agrees with the expected value of 1.274
MeV.
The rst peak is a backscatter peak and falls within the broad range of 0.200 to 0.300 MeV.
The Compton edge is at 0.2884 0.0098. The predicted value for the Compton edge is at
1.0573 MeV and hence the values are far from agreeing.
6.1.4 Unknown source
The only clearly visible photopeak of the unknown source is at 0.6648 0.0030 MeV.
The Compton edge is at 0.437 0.032
Sources that match this within uncertainty:
Cs-137 gives o photons of energy 0.6617 MeV which falls outside the uncertainty range for the
unknown source. However, there is only a 2/3 chance of the true value lying with the uncertainty
13
range so it is still possible that Cs137 was contained in the unknown source (especially since
the values are close to agreeing).
Zn-65 decays by electron capture and the average energy of the photons it it releases is 1.115
MeV [1]. There is a very faint peak on the histogram at 1.173 0.062 which suggests that the
unknown source may have contained Zn-65.
The other nuclides with decay energies that fall within the above ranges have half-lives that are
too short for their use in this experiment to be practical.
6.2 Background when no source is present
Gamma rays are still detected even when no obvious source is present. This background
radiation can come from various sources:
High energy natural background [6]: high-energy gamma rays, cosmic ray muons
According to Wikipedia [7] the biggest source of natural background radiation is radon in
air, where the radon is released from the ground.
6.3 Resolution function of NaI detector
Source: ORTEC manual [8].
We were asked to devise a scheme to measure the width E in a reproducible way. This
was done for us by the software Origin, which determined the values of for our Gaussian ts,
where is a measure of the spread of the Gaussian distribution.
FWHM= 2

2 log 2 = 2.35.
Therefore since sigma is linearly dependent on the FWHM and the values of sigma were readily
available, I plotted /energy versus energy to determine the resolution function of the equip-
ment. I could do this since we were only looking at the way the parameters depended on each
other and not their absolute values.
One can see from the graph that as the energy increases, the spread of the gaussians (relative
to the energies of their means) decreases. This suggests that the resolution of the detector
improves with increased energies of gamma rays.
A possible reason for this is that the eect of background radiation becomes comparatively less
at higher energies, since background radiation mostly occurs at low energies.
According to [10] the average energy to produce a photon in NaI due to 0.662 MeV gamma rays
is on the order of 10 eV. Since a single gamma ray has an energy of the order of 1 MeV, one
gamma ray can produce on the order of 100 000 photons. This number uctuates and leads
to inconsistencies in the amplitudes of the voltage pulses generated by the photomultiplier and
hence leads to a non-zero peak width.
Sources of uncertainty in the calibration
The uncertainty in individual mean values was small and hence contributed little to the uncer-
tainty in the slope and intercept of the best t line. The main source of uncertainty was the
14
spread of the dierent values. This spread could be due to a number of things:
Dierent energies of gamma rays may have interacted with the detector in dierent ways,
causing more or less of a gamma rays energy to be absorbed.
There could have been uctuations in background radiation.
6.4 Relative usefulness of parts of the spectrum
The photopeaks were most useful for calibration because their means were clearly dened and
those means corresponded to the full decay energies of the incoming gamma rays. It would have
been dicult to pin down a value for the position of a Compton edge, and we would have had
to carry out additional calculations to determine the full energy of the incoming gamma rays
from that.
7 References
[1] Radionuclide safety data sheet. Stanford University. Accessed 22 April 2014, http://www.
stanford.edu/dept/EHS/prod/researchlab/radlaser/RSDS_sheets/Zn-65.pdf
[2] Gilmore, G. and Hemmingway, J. Practical Gamma Ray Spectroscopy, 2nd edition. Wiley
(2007).
[3] Na22 decay scheme image modelled on image at http://ippedclassroom.net/fsi/summer/projects/2009/DaltonAlex/.
[4] Decay scheme for Cs-137. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cs-137-decay.svg.
Accessed April 2014.
[5] Decay scheme for Co-60. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cobalt-60m-decay.svg
[6] http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/grad/506/detectors-00326398.pdf
[7] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Background_radiation
[8] ORTEC. Experiment 3: Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy Using NaI.
[9] http://www.physics.uoguelph.ca/
~
detong/phys3510_4500/outlines/highres.pdf
[10] http://jjap.jsap.jp/link?JJAP/45/6420/
15