ABSTRACT
Pulse shape discrimination is an important handle to improve sensitivity in low background experiments. A dedicated setup was built to investigate the response of high-purity germanium detectors to single Compton scattered events. Using properly collimated γ-ray sources, it is possible to select events with known interaction location. The aim is to correlate the position dependent signal shape with geometrical and electrical properties of the detector. We report on design and performance of the setup with a first look on data.
ABSTRACT
The dead-layer uniformity of the top surface of two high purity germanium detectors has been studied using a novel automated scanning set-up that allows a fine-grained topography of a detector's top and lateral surfaces. Comparisons between measurements and Monte Carlo simulations allowed implementation of a dead-layer variation into the detector model, which reproduces the measurements results. The effect of the non-uniform dead-layer on activity determinations based on low-energy γ-rays (i.e. below ~100 keV) has been determined to be of the order of 10% or more.
