Difference between revisions of "Introduction to Detection of Gamma Radiation"

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(Detection of Gamma Rays)
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#'''The photoelectric effect''', where the gamma energy is transferred in its entirety to an electron in one of the inner shells of an atom in the absorption material. The electron emitted has a kinetic energy corresponding to the gamma energy minus it's binding energy. The ejected (primary) electron is shot away at great speed. It's velocity decreases via electrostatic interactions with the absorbator's electrons, and thus gives off its kinetic energy to the absorber in thousends of small steps. <br>
 
#'''The photoelectric effect''', where the gamma energy is transferred in its entirety to an electron in one of the inner shells of an atom in the absorption material. The electron emitted has a kinetic energy corresponding to the gamma energy minus it's binding energy. The ejected (primary) electron is shot away at great speed. It's velocity decreases via electrostatic interactions with the absorbator's electrons, and thus gives off its kinetic energy to the absorber in thousends of small steps. <br>
#The second way a photon can interact with matter is called Compton scattering. Parts of the gamma energy is transfered to out electron of the absorbator's atoms. Again the energy of the electron (Compton electron) is deposited in the absorber . The remaing energy after the Compton interaction result in a new photon. The photon can either leave the absorber or interact at some other part of the absorber. If the photon from the Compton scattering also interacts, it will happen so quickly that normal electronics will not be able to distinguis the two events, but will record them as one with a energy equal to the sum. <br>
+
#The second way a photon can interact with matter is called '''Compton scattering'''. Parts of the gamma energy is transfered to out electron of the absorbator's atoms. Again the energy of the electron (Compton electron) is deposited in the absorber . The remaing energy after the Compton interaction result in a new photon. The photon can either leave the absorber or interact at some other part of the absorber. If the photon from the Compton scattering also interacts, it will happen so quickly that normal electronics will not be able to distinguis the two events, but will record them as one with a energy equal to the sum. <br>
 
#Pair formation is the third way of interaction. When a photon has higher energy than 1022 MeV an electron/positron pair may spontaneously form. The total kinetic energy of the two elementary particles are equal to the energy of the gamma minus 1022 MeV. The electron vil transfer its energy as described under the last part of 1. As the positron is slowed down the chance it will interact with an electron increases before it eventually does and both particles disappear and turns into 2 quants of 511 keV, called anhiliation energy.&nbsp; &nbsp; <br>
 
#Pair formation is the third way of interaction. When a photon has higher energy than 1022 MeV an electron/positron pair may spontaneously form. The total kinetic energy of the two elementary particles are equal to the energy of the gamma minus 1022 MeV. The electron vil transfer its energy as described under the last part of 1. As the positron is slowed down the chance it will interact with an electron increases before it eventually does and both particles disappear and turns into 2 quants of 511 keV, called anhiliation energy.&nbsp; &nbsp; <br>
  

Revision as of 11:54, 14 October 2012

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Gamma Emission comes from Excited States

When a nucleus decays by emitting an alpha or beta particle the daughter product will frequently be in an excited state. The excess energy (related to the daughter's ground state) is usually released as gamma radiation. The deexitation of such excited states does not always occur directly to the ground state, but can go via lower-lying excited states. Frequently the deexcitation scheme can be quite comples, as illustrated in the figure below (copied from Table of Isotopes, eight edition), which shoes gamma transitions from excited states in 108Pd, after beta decay of 108Rh.

108Rh beta disintegration.jpg

Due to the (usually) partial beta-feeding of the excited levels and the many different deexcitation paths the intensity of the emitted gamma rays will vary - from nearly 100% downto very small fractions of a percent. This must be taken into account when you analyse a gamma spectrum, the visibility of the different gamma rays (i.e. how clearly it shows up in the spectrum) depend on it's emission rate.

Detection of Gamma Rays

To understand what you see when measuring gamma rays, you need to understand how gamma rays interact with matter. This is briefly explained below. Refer to your course book and lecture notes for more details.

A photon (gamma ray) can interact with matter in three different ways:

  1. The photoelectric effect, where the gamma energy is transferred in its entirety to an electron in one of the inner shells of an atom in the absorption material. The electron emitted has a kinetic energy corresponding to the gamma energy minus it's binding energy. The ejected (primary) electron is shot away at great speed. It's velocity decreases via electrostatic interactions with the absorbator's electrons, and thus gives off its kinetic energy to the absorber in thousends of small steps.
  2. The second way a photon can interact with matter is called Compton scattering. Parts of the gamma energy is transfered to out electron of the absorbator's atoms. Again the energy of the electron (Compton electron) is deposited in the absorber . The remaing energy after the Compton interaction result in a new photon. The photon can either leave the absorber or interact at some other part of the absorber. If the photon from the Compton scattering also interacts, it will happen so quickly that normal electronics will not be able to distinguis the two events, but will record them as one with a energy equal to the sum.
  3. Pair formation is the third way of interaction. When a photon has higher energy than 1022 MeV an electron/positron pair may spontaneously form. The total kinetic energy of the two elementary particles are equal to the energy of the gamma minus 1022 MeV. The electron vil transfer its energy as described under the last part of 1. As the positron is slowed down the chance it will interact with an electron increases before it eventually does and both particles disappear and turns into 2 quants of 511 keV, called anhiliation energy.   


The intensisity of a monoenergetic gamma ray decreases exponentially in matter, according to the following equation:

I = I0e - μx

where μ is the absorption coeffecient and x is the thickness of the absorbator.

If we set [math]I= \frac{I_{0}}{2}[/math] into the above equation, we get the following:

[math]d_{1/2} = \frac{ln2}{\mu}[/math]