During the past 10 to 15 years significant advances have been made in detectors, electronics, and computer data reduction software for field instrumentation. In the detector arena, improvements in material purity has made it possible to increase the volume of intrinsic germanium detectors from a few cubic centimeters to over 400 cc. The availability of large-volume detectors produces many practical advantages. The detector response to monoenergetic radiation is greatly improved as the detector volume is increased. This results from more multiple events occurring after an initial interaction of high-energy photons with the detector material. The net result of this is that a larger fraction of the events result in total-energy absorption and the detector response is simplified. For radioactive sources emitting very complex photon energy spectra the ability to analyze complex spectra is enhanced. This is important in the assay of mixed fission products and similar complex radiation sources. At the present time the effects of these improvements are not documented for general use in applied spectroscopy.
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- David Nigg, (208) 526-7627, Send E-mail