LB Thesis DAQ Writeup

The class of detectors used in the photon activation analysis of selenium were high purity germanium detectors. The specific detector used was the GEM40P4 detector from Ortec. This specific detector is cooled with liquid nitrogen to prevent electrons from easily jumping into the conduction band. If the detector is not cooled, then electrons can cross the band gap which results in a high level of noise in the detector that will wash out the signal of interest.