Interaction of Gamma rays

with Matter and its Detection

Malay Dalui
Research Scholar
Department of Nuclear and Atomic Physics
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
Gamma ray :

a packet of electromagnetic radiation emitted from the unstable nucleus during

radiactive decay

gamma ray often follows a beta decay

n→p+β+γ

Properties :
Electrically neutral
Highly energetic
Posses no mass
Travells at the speed of light
Wavelengths are very short, ranges from 3/100ths to 3/1000ths of a
nanometer
 Interaction with matter

The main mechanisms :

1. Photoelectric Absorption :
Interaction with the atom as a whole
Low energy range

2. Comptom Scattering :
Interaction with the loosely bound electron
Moderate energy range

3. Pair Production :
Creation of a electron positron pair
High energy range

4. Cherent Scattering :
Neither exites nor ionizes the atom
The direction of the photon only gets changed
 PHOTOELECTRIC ABSORPTION

The incident gamma-ray

phohton disappears
completely causing the
ejection of an photo-electron
while undergoing an
interaction with the atom

The origin of the photo-

electron is mainly the
K-shell of the atom

The vacancy of the electron is quickly filled up by electron rearrangement and in

this process one or more x-ray photons or an Augar electron is emitted
 COMPTON SCATTERING

It is the inelastic scattering of

the gamma ray photon with an
electron in the absorbing
material

A portion of the photon's energy is transferred to the electron which is assumed to

be at rest

The probability of the compton scattering depends on the availability of scattering

targets and increases linearily with Z

No absorption of the gamma ray photon takes place

 PAIR PRODUCTION

In the vicinity of the coulomb field of

the nucleus, a gamma ray photon with
energy more than 1.022 MeV
disappears and is replaced by an
electron-positron pair

The new electrons thus produced

are not orbital electrons but they
are created to conserve the
energy/mass of the photon
e- + e+ → γ (1.022 MeV)
Energy dependence of the varius gamma-ray interaction processes
 DETECTORS (SEMICNDUCTOR)

Basic principle :
Gamma ray is detected by collecting the output signal produced by the liberated
electrons

The voltage is proportional to the deposited energy in the detecting material

The “depleted region” of the semiconductor is called the sensitive volume

charges are swept directly from the sensitive volume to the electrodes because of
the high electric field in the semicnductor

The collected charges are then converted into a voltage pulse

 CONFIGURATION GEOMETRY OF SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
Coaxial configuration
Open ended
Closed ended
The electric field for charge
collection is radial
Produced with large sensitive
volume so has large detection
efficiency at high energy
Planer configuration
The cross-sectional area is
either rectangular or circular
The electric field is
perpendicular to the cross-
sectional area
Thickness is chosen accrding
to energy range
Prefered for detailed
spectrscopy
 LIMITATIONS

Highly damaged by neutron radiations

Creation of dislocation sites in the detector enhances charge trapping and hence reduces
performace

Reverse-bias Ge detector results very low currents (≈ pico to nano range)

It requires to keep the detector cool to avoid thermally generated electrical noises
REFERENCES

1. G. F. Knoll, Radiation Detection and Measurement (Wiley-India edition, sunny

offset process, Delhi, 2009

2. http://www.nucleonica.net/wiki/images/0/02/Dosimetry_Shielding.pdf

3. http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/lanl/docs1/00326398.pdf
THANK YOU