Difference between revisions of "Fast neutron damage to HPGe Detector"

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An observable decrease in the energy resolution of large HPGe detectors was first seen after the irradiation of 5*10^7 n/cm^2<ref>P. H. Stelson, J. K. Dickens, S. Raman, and R. C. Trammell, “Deterioration of Large Ge(Li) Diodes Caused by Fast Neutrons,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods 98,481 (1972).</ref>, so I consider a factor of ten below this to be a good conservative amount to make the maximum.  
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An observable decrease in the energy resolution of large HPGe detectors was first seen after the irradiation of 5*10^7 n/cm^2<ref>P. H. Stelson, J. K. Dickens, S. Raman, and R. C. Trammell, “Deterioration of Large Ge(Li) Diodes Caused by Fast Neutrons,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods 98,481 (1972).</ref>. I choose a factor of ten below that value to be the maximum allowable neutron irradiation.  
  
The maximum neutron flux occurs exactly at the center of the detector, where the expression for integral flux is simply: <math>\Delta t\times  n_{rate}\frac{1}{4\pi d^2}</math>.
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The maximum neutron flux from a point source will occur exactly at the center of the detector face, where the expression for integral flux over a period <math>\Delta t</math>is simply: <math>\Delta t\times  n_{rate}\frac{1}{4\pi d^2}</math>, where <math>n_{rate}</math> is the neutron rate of the source.  
  
The number of days it would take to reach an integral flux of 5*10^6 n/cm^2, as a function of the distance from source to HPGe face is shown below. The graph assumes the activity of the Cf-252 source as of 01/2017, which is 19,066 n/s.  
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The number of days it would take to reach an integral flux of 5*10^6 n/cm^2, as a function of the distance from source to HPGe face is shown below. The graph assumes the activity of the Cf-252 source as of 01/2017, which was 19,066 <math>\pm</math> 300 n/s (see [[Cf-252 FTC-CFZ-431| here]] for discussion of source rates).
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[[File:MaxHPGeCF252Time.png|700px]]
 
[[File:MaxHPGeCF252Time.png|700px]]

Revision as of 09:07, 29 December 2016

An observable decrease in the energy resolution of large HPGe detectors was first seen after the irradiation of 5*10^7 n/cm^2<ref>P. H. Stelson, J. K. Dickens, S. Raman, and R. C. Trammell, “Deterioration of Large Ge(Li) Diodes Caused by Fast Neutrons,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods 98,481 (1972).</ref>. I choose a factor of ten below that value to be the maximum allowable neutron irradiation.

The maximum neutron flux from a point source will occur exactly at the center of the detector face, where the expression for integral flux over a period [math]\Delta t[/math]is simply: [math]\Delta t\times n_{rate}\frac{1}{4\pi d^2}[/math], where [math]n_{rate}[/math] is the neutron rate of the source.

The number of days it would take to reach an integral flux of 5*10^6 n/cm^2, as a function of the distance from source to HPGe face is shown below. The graph assumes the activity of the Cf-252 source as of 01/2017, which was 19,066 [math]\pm[/math] 300 n/s (see here for discussion of source rates).


MaxHPGeCF252Time.png

  • The formula used in the graph above is,

[math]y=\frac{5\times 10^6}{(19066 * 60^2 * 24 * \frac{1}{(4*\pi * x^2)})}[/math]


References

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