Gamma-ray spectrometry

• US 20060027754A1
• Filed: 09/02/2005
• Published: 02/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Symetrica Limited
• Original Assignee: Symetrica Limited
• Inventors: Ramsden, David, Ignatov, Sergei, Ivanov, Oleg, Meng, Ling-Jian
• Granted Patent: US 7,202,478 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/361.R
• CPC Class Codes: G01T 1/20 with scintillation detectors

Abstract

A scintillation spectrometer provides improved resolution by ensuring that photons generated by scintillation events occurring in different locations within the scintillation material generate similar light profiles on the photo-detector, thereby making the output signal less sensitive to the initial interaction site and enabling more effective de-convolution of raw data. This is achieved in different ways, such as by: limiting the exit window of the scintillation crystal, introducing a spacer between the scintillation crystal and the detector window, or providing a crystal that is longer than necessary to stop gamma rays.

Claims

1-27. -27. (canceled)

28. A gamma-ray spectrometer comprising a scintillation body for absorbing gamma-rays at locations within the scintillation body and creating photons therefrom, and a photon detector arranged to receive and detect the photons, wherein the scintillation body is not less than an attenuation length operative to spread the photons to provide an intensity profile across the photon detector that is relatively invariant as to the locations in the scintillation body.