Advantages of HPGe Detectors Germanium has lower average energy necessary to create an electron-hole pair, which is 3.6 eV for silicon and 2.9 eV for germanium. Very good energy resolution. The FWHM for germanium detectors is a function of energy. For a 1.3 MeV photon, the FWHM is 2.1 keV, which is very low.

Ionizing radiation enters the sensitive volume (germanium crystal) of the detector and interacts with the semiconductor material. High-energy photon passing through the detector ionizes the atoms of semiconductor, producing the electron-hole pairs.

Synopsis: High Purity Germanium (HPGe) is the only radiation detection technology that provides sufficient information to accurately and reliably identify radionuclides from their passive gamma ray emissions. HPGe detectors have a 20-30x improvement in resolution as compared to that of Sodium Iodide (NaI) detectors.

Like X-ray detection, gamma-ray detection is done photon-by-photon. Gamma rays are detected by observing the effects they have on matter. A gamma ray can collide with an electron and bounce off it like a billiard ball (Compton scatter) or it can push an electron to a higher energy level (photoelectric ionization).

The extremely high energy of gamma rays allows them to penetrate just about anything. They can even pass through bones and teeth. This makes gamma rays very dangerous. They can destroy living cells, produce gene mutations, and cause cancer.

Silicon detectors are most heavily used in charged-particle spectroscopy and are also used for Compton- recoil spectroscopy of high-energy gamma rays. Other solid-state detection media besides germanium and silicon have been applied to gamma-ray spectroscopy.

Plutonium has a much more complex gamma-ray spectrum than uranium does, and germanium or silicon detectors are used more often in plutonium assay applications than in uranium assay applications.

Gamma-ray (γ-ray) spectroscopy is a quick and nondestructive analytical technique that can be used to identify various radioactive isotopes in a sample. In gamma-ray spectroscopy, the energy of incident gamma-rays is measured by a detector.

Gamma rays have the highest energies, the shortest wavelengths, and the highest frequencies. Radio waves, on the other hand, have the lowest energies, longest wavelengths, and lowest frequencies of any type of EM radiation.

They are often considered gamma rays. Beyond gamma rays ? If you mean more penetrative than gamma rays, there are neutrinos, muons, high energy cosmic particles. If you mean higher energy (or frequency) photons or electromagnetic radiation – we have high energy cosmic photons.

Ionizing radiation comes in three flavors: alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays. Alpha particles are the least dangerous in terms of external exposure. Each particle contains a pair of neutrons and a pair of protons.

The alpha particle is the heaviest. It is produced when the heaviest elements decay. Alpha and beta rays are not waves. They are high-energy particles that are expelled from unstable nuclei.

Radiation

• electromagnetic radiation, such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays, and gamma radiation (γ)
• particle radiation, such as alpha radiation (α), beta radiation (β), proton radiation and neutron radiation (particles of non-zero rest energy)

Gamma rays

Gamma rays are the most harmful external hazard. Beta particles can partially penetrate skin, causing “beta burns”.