Lab #6

Gamma-kay Spectroscopy Us|ng a

NaI(1|) Detector W|th a
Mu|t|channe| Ana|yzer
NUC L 4S0
Author: 1ay|or h|pps
Lab artners:
atr|ck koudys
8ronson kesh
Lab erformed: 3]18]14
Due Date: 4]1]14
Date Subm|tted: 4]1]14



Summary:
We demonsLraLed Lhe use of a MulLlchannel Analyzer connecLed Lo a nal(1l) gamma-ray deLecLor uslng
gamma-ray specLroscopy. We used Lhe followlng lsoLopes Lo callbraLe Lhe sysLem: barlum- 133, ceslum-
137, and cobalL-60. uslng Lhese callbraLlons, we were able Lo deLermlne an unknown radlonucllde glven
Lo us ln Lhe lab by comparlng Lhe values of Lhe phoLopeaks uslng Lhe Camma Lnergles for lsoLopes".
We sLarLed callbraLlng Lhe Cenle-2000 sofLware uslng Lhe ceslum-137 where we placed lL ln Lhe shelf
box and recorded and observed Lhe specLral daLa. lor Lhe energy callbraLlon, we sLarLed wlLh cobalL-60
and Lhen replaced lL wlLh ceslum-137 and furLher replaced LhaL wlLh barlum-133 ln Lhe shelf box. AfLer
collecLlng all of Lhls daLa, we found Lhe reglons of lnLeresL (8Cls) of every slgnlflcanL phoLopeak. WlLh
Lhe 8Cl daLa, we were able Lo deLermlne Lhe peak cenLrold, lWPM, lW1M, and area under Lhe 8Cl. We
were able Lo flnd Lhe comblned specLrum of Lhese Lhree sources wlLh all of Lhe ma[or peaks vlslble.

Introduct|on:
We were able Lo analyze Lhe dlfferenL energy pulses of dlfferenL radlo-nuclldes across a specLrum ln Lhls
experlmenL uslng a MulLlchannel Analyzer, a nal(1l) deLecLor and a nlM 8ln. 1he MCA enables for
auLomaLlc sorLlng and dlsplay of pulses. 8arlum- 133, ceslum-137, and cobalL-60 were all used Lo help
callbraLe Lhe sysLem and from Lhls callbraLlon, we were able Lo verlfy an unknown radlonucllde. 1he
MCA ls very effecLlve ln flndlng and sorLlng pulses, an advanLage noL shared by Lhe SCA. 1he cosL and
effecLlveness of a MCA vs. a SCA ls evldenL and wlll be shown LhroughouL Lhls lab.

1heory:
An MCA measures pulse helghLs across a specLrum, asslgnlng Lhese helghLs Lo one of many ranges or, ln
Lhls case, channels. Cn Lhe oLher hand, an SCA produces a pulse only lf Lhe lnpuL llnear pulse ampllLude
lles beLween Lhe upper level dlscrlmlnaLor and lower level dlscrlmlnaLor. ulfferenL feaLures on Lhe
specLrum are: phoLopeak, x-ray peaks, annlhllaLlon peaks, slngle and double escape peaks, CompLon
shoulder and CompLon conLlnuum, backscaLLer peaks, and sum peaks. 1hese peaks are very apparenL
when looklng aL a good specLrum from a radloacLlve source. 1he phoLopeak ls formed when a gamma
ray deposlLs all of lLs energy ln Lhe deLecLor, commonly occurrlng when Lhe gamma ray lnLeracLs
Lhrough Lhe phoLoelecLrlc effecL. x-ray peaks occur when phoLoelecLrlc absorpLlon Lakes place ln a
maLerlal surroundlng Lhe deLecLor and a characLerlsLlc x-ray ls emlLLed lnLo Lhe deLecLor. AnnlhllaLlon
peaks happen ln Lhe surroundlng maLerlal when palr producLlon causes an annlhllaLed phoLon Lo enLer
Lhe deLecLor. Slngle and double escape peaks correspond Lo elLher a slngle or double phoLon escaplng
Lhe deLecLor from palr producLlon. 1he CompLon edge ls a sudden drop aL Lhe end of Lhe CompLon
conLlnuum, Lhls CompLon conLlnuum ls a measuremenL of Lhe blndlng energy of an elecLron ln a u-
shaped fashlon. 1he backscaLLer peak ls due Lo CompLon scaLLerlng ln Lhe surroundlng maLerlal. llnally,
sum peaks are Lhe summaLlon of Lwo lndlvldual gamma ray energles. 1he lab manual covers some of
Lhe above Lhe maLerlal, Lhe resL can be found wlLhln Lhe LexLbook for Lhe course:
knoll, C., 8adlaLlon ueLecLlon and MeasuremenL 4
Lh
LdlLlon, !ohn Wlley and Sons, 2010.

Lqu|pment:
Looklng aL llgure 1, below, lL shows Lhe equlpmenL seL up of Lhe lab. Plgh volLage cables were needed
wlLh Lhe hlgh volLage supply, as Lhe name suggesLs. 1able 1 glves a llsL of Lhe equlpmenL used Lo analyze
our daLa.

I|gure 1: 8|ock D|agram of GM Counter





1ab|e 1: Lqu|pment used w|th make, mode|, and ser|a| number.
Lqu|pment Make Mode| Ser|a|
Cscllloscope 1ekLronlx 1uS 1002 C030788
ersonal CompuLer Croup # 7
nAl(1l) ueLecLor Croup # 7
nlM 8ln Croup # 7 #4 00223382
ower Supply C81LC 4002u 723720 C
ueLecLor Plgh volLage 8erLan 323 03163
Supply
Slngle Channel Analyzer C81LC 330A 1036 8
Ampllfler CAn8L88A 2022 10062336

rocedure:
1he procedure for Lhls experlmenL followed Lhe Sprlng 2014 LxperlmenL 6 LaboraLory Manual, wlLh no
excepLlons: parL l was Laken a second Llme for a more accuraLe callbraLlon as our galn was Loo hlgh ln
our lnlLlal measuremenLs.






Data (kesu|ts):
arL u Ceslum-137

n|stogram for Ces|um-137 k-kay eak w|th 900 h|gh vo|tage and a course ga|n set to 30.
I|gure 2: n|stogram for Ces|um-137 k-kay eak
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 30 32 34 36 38 60 62 64 66
L
n
e
r
g
y

Channels
x-8ay eak

n|stogram for Ces|um-137 Iu|| Lnergy eak w|th 900 h|gh vo|tage and a course ga|n set to 30.
I|gure 3: n|stogram for Ces|um-137 Iu|| Lnergy eak
arL l Lnergy CallbraLlon
900 Plgh volLage
Course Caln 30

0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
7
0
3

7
1
1

7
1
9

7
2
7

7
3
3

7
4
3

7
3
1

7
3
9

7
6
7

7
7
3

7
8
3

7
9
1

7
9
9

8
0
7

8
1
3

8
2
3

8
3
1

8
3
9

8
4
7

8
3
3

8
6
3

8
7
1

8
7
9

8
8
7

8
9
3

L
n
e
r
g
y

Channel
lull Lnergy eak
0
3000
10000
13000
20000
23000
30000
1

2
9

3
7

8
3

1
1
3

1
4
1

1
6
9

1
9
7

2
2
3

2
3
3

2
8
1

3
0
9

3
3
7

3
6
3

3
9
3

4
2
1

4
4
9

4
7
7

3
0
3

3
3
3

3
6
1

3
8
9

6
1
7

6
4
3

6
7
3

7
0
1

7
2
9

7
3
7

7
8
3

C
o
u
n
t
s

Channe|
3 Source Ca||branon



n|stogram for Coba|t- 60 (eak 1) w|th 900 h|gh vo|tage and a course ga|n set to 30.
I|gure 4: n|stogram for Coba|t-60 (eak 1)


n|stogram for 8ar|um-133 (eak 1) w|th 900 h|gh vo|tages and a course ga|n set to 30.
I|gure S: n|stogram for 8ar|um-133 (eak 1)

0
1000
2000
3000
4000
3000
6000
169 171 173 173 177 179 181 183 183 187 189 191 193 193 197 199 201 203 203 207
L
n
e
r
g
y

Channels
CobalL-60 (eak 1)
0
3000
10000
13000
20000
23000
30000
23 24 23 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
L
n
e
r
g
y

Channels
8arlum-133 (eak 1)

n|stogram for Coba|t-60 (eak 2) w|th 900 h|gh vo|tage and a course ga|n set to 30.
I|gure 6: n|stogram for Coba|t-60 (eak 2)



n|stogram for Ces|um-137 (eak 1) w|th 900 h|gh vo|tage and a course ga|n set to 30.
I|gure 7: n|stogram for Ces|um-137 (eak 1)


0
100
200
300
400
300
600
700
307 309 311 313 313 317 319 321 323 323 327 329 331 333 333 337 339 341 343 343 347
L
n
e
r
g
y

Channels
CobalL-60 (eak 2)
0
30
100
130
200
230
300
330
400
430
300
3
4
8

3
3
0

3
3
2

3
3
4

3
3
6

3
3
8

3
6
0

3
6
2

3
6
4

3
6
6

3
6
8

3
7
0

3
7
2

3
7
4

3
7
6

3
7
8

3
8
0

3
8
2

3
8
4

3
8
6

3
8
8

3
9
0

3
9
2

3
9
4

3
9
6

3
9
8

L
n
e
r
g
y

Channels
Ceslum-137 (eak 1)
arL C unknown 8adlonuclldes

n|stogram for Unknown kad|onuc||de kCI 1 w|th 900 h|gh vo|tage and a course ga|n set to 30.
I|gure 8: n|stogram for Unknown kad|onuc||de kCI 1


n|stogram for Unknown kad|onuc||de kCI 2 w|th 900 h|gh vo|tage and a course ga|n set to 30.
I|gure 9: n|stogram for Unknown kad|onuc||de kCI 2



0
1000
2000
3000
4000
3000
6000
130 132 134 136 138 140 142 144 146 148 130 132 134 136 138 160 162 164
L
n
e
r
g
y

Channels
8Cl 1
0
100
200
300
400
300
600
700
329 332 333 338 341 344 347 330 333 336 339 362 363 368 371 374 377 380 383
L
n
e
r
g
y

Channels
8Cl 2


n|stogram for Unknown kad|onuc||de kCI 3 w|th 900 h|gh vo|tage and a course ga|n set to 30.
I|gure 10: n|stogram for Unknown kad|onuc||de kCI 3



D|scuss|on of kesu|ts:
1. uescrlbe Lhe effecLs on Lhe ceslum-137 specLrum caused by varylng Lhe varlous MCA conLrols,
galn, and Lhe hlgh volLage seLLlngs, (SecLlon u, SLep 3)
A: When Lhe galn was lncreased, we were able Lo see an lncrease ln Lhe acLlvlLy specLrum among
more channels, however, lf Lhe galn was lncreased Loo much, Lhe acLlvlLy peaks would noL be able Lo
been seen because Lhey were pasL Lhe channel scale. lncreaslng Lhe hlgh volLage had a slmllar
effecL, Lhe acLlvlLy among Lhe channels was on average hlgher wlLh an lncrease ln hlgh volLage.
2. uslng Lhe ceslum-137 specLrum daLa, produced ln SecLlon u and prlnLed ouL ln SecLlon L,
evaluaLe Lhe nal(1l) deLecLor used ln your experlmenL. lnclude ln Lhls evaluaLlon Lhe deLecLor
resoluLlon, peak symmeLry, and peak-Lo-CompLon raLlo. Pow do your resulLs agree wlLh Lhose
obLalned ln LxperlmenL 3 and wlLh Lhe LheoreLlcal values?
A:
ueLecLor 8esoluLlon = (96.863-31.342)/1037=4.38
eak SymmeLry=lW1M/lWPM=96.863/31.342=1.8866
eak-Lo-CompLon 8aLlo= PelghL of
137
Cs hoLo-peak/Max helghL of CompLon= 3.373
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
467 470 473 476 479 482 483 488 491 494 497 300 303 306 309 312 313 318 321 324
L
n
e
r
g
y

Channels
8Cl 3
Cur deLecLor resoluLlon for experlmenL 3 was 6.23 and for Lhls experlmenL lL was 4.38 and Lhe
LheoreLlcal value was 7-8, Lhls shows LhaL our resoluLlon for Lhls experlmenL was far beLLer Lhan Lhe
pasL experlmenL due Lo callbraLlon errors and human error.
lor our peak symmeLry, we calculaLed lL Lo be 1.8866, lab 3 was calculaLed Lo be 2.667. 1hese resulLs do
noL agree wlLh one anoLher because our callbraLlons from Lhe sLarL were off and we dld noL noLlce Lhem
Llll Lhe end because our galn was Loo hlgh.
lor our peak-Lo-compLon raLlo we calculaLed lL Lo be 3.373 and for lab 3 lL was calculaLed Lo be 6.214.
Agaln our callbraLlons were off due Lo havlng our galn Loo hlgh, maklng our peaks show ln dlfferenL
spoLs aL dlfferenL acLlvlLy raLes, or noL showlng aL all.
3. uslng elLher Lhe ceslum-137 peak daLa obLalned ln SecLlon u or one of Lhe or cobalL-60 peaks
obLalned ln SecLlon l, use Lhe procedures glven ln class Lo calculaLe peak cenLrold locaLlon, gross
and neL peak areas and Lhelr sLandard errors, lWPM and lW1M and peak symmeLry. Pow well
do your values compare wlLh Lhose obLalned by Lhe Cenle 2000 program for Lhese values?
Lxplaln any dlfferences.
A:
4. uslng Lhe peak channel cenLrold daLa deLermlned ln SecLlon l and acLual peak energles,
evaluaLe Lhe accuracy of energy callbraLlon curve obLalned ln secLlon l. 1hls requlres you Lo flL a
curve or llne Lo your daLa.

Source Channel
kev
(calculaLed) AcLual Lrror
8arlum 26 1220 336 242.6966292
Ceslum 188 3606 661.637 444.9933677
CobalL
(1) 326 3684 1173 214.0664962
CobalL
(2) 369 3700 1333 177.3693923
y = 6.9722x + 1468.1
8 = 0.7796
0
300
1000
1300
2000
2300
3000
3300
4000
4300
0 30 100 130 200 230 300 330 400
L
n
e
r
g
y

(
k
e
V
)

Channe|s
Ca||branon Curve Chart
Serles1
Cur percenL errors are so far off due Lo our callbraLlon noL belng accuraLe and obLalnlng dlfferenL
channels Lhan we were suppose Lo have obLalned.
3. ldenLlfy, by uslng a Lable, all Lhe specLral feaLures ln Lhe ceslum-137 from secLlon u, and Lhe
callbraLlon specLrum (SecLlon l). lnclude such lLems, lf seen, as full energy peaks, escape peaks,
backscaLLer peaks, CompLon conLlnuums, annlhllaLlon peaks, and sum peaks, eLc. uo Lhelr
shapes and approxlmaLe energy or channel locaLlons agree wlLh Lhe Lheory glven ln class? use a
separaLe Lable for Lhls lnsLead of marklng your Cenle 2000 generaLed graphs or daLa Lables.







A: ?es Lhe shapes are slmllar buL due Lo our callbraLlon belng off, we had Lo re-perform Lhe callbraLlon
secLlon aL Lhe end of lab. 8ecause of shorLness of Llme, however, we were noL able Lo perform Lhe
measuremenLs for Lhe full Llme Lo achleve Lhe esLlmaLed counLs. 1hls posed as a problem because we
are noL able Lo see all of Lhe specLral feaLures LhaL should be shown. 1here should be escape peaks ln
fronL of Lhe cobalL peaks buL Lhere are noL apparenL due Lo Lhe callbraLlon. Also, before Lhe peak ln 8a-
133 Lhere should be sum peaks along wlLh an x-ray peak.
6. WhaL was (were) your unknown radlonucllde(s)? Pow were Lhe ldenLlflcaLlons esLabllshed?
Pow well dld Lhe callbraLlon energles agree wlLh Lhe acLual peak energles? Lxplaln any
dlscrepancles ln Lhese values.
A: We had source 3 for our unknown and found Lwo dlfferenL radlonucllde(s) ln Lhe source. llrsL
unknown LhaL we dlscovered was Cs-137 because of Lhe phoLopeak seen ln Lhe mlddle-lower range
of Lhe specLrum. We also found Co-60 ln our unknown due Lo Lhe Lwo dlsLlncL peaks found ln Lhe
mld range of Lhe specLrum. We Look our daLa and found exacLly whaL Lhe source was uslng kaerl
(webslLe glven by Lhe professors) by analyzlng Lhe peak energles found and comparlng Lhe energles
of gamma-ray emlsslons.






SpecLral leaLures Channel 8ange
lull Lnergy eak 1 lor Ceslum (171-201)
lull Lnergy eak 1 lor CobalL (311-341)
lull Lnergy eak 2 lor CobalL (331-373)
lull Lnergy eak 1 lor 8arlum (24-28)
CompLon ConLlnuum (127-136)
8ackScaLLer eak (83-91)
8ackScaLLer eak (19-22)
x-8ay eak (12-13)
Conc|us|on
AfLer Lhe compleLlon of Lhe Camma-8ay SpecLroscopy uslng a nal(1l) ueLecLor WlLh a MulLlchannel
Analyzer lab we were able Lo deLermlne how Lhe dlfferenL specLra are lald ouL over dlfferenL energles or
dlfferenL channels. When Lransferrlng Lhe daLa Lo an Lxcel spreadsheeL, lL was easy Lo lsolaLe Lhe 8Cls
and use Lhls lnformaLlon Lo deLermlne all Lhe polnLs needed for calculaLlons and deLermlnaLlons of
unknown lsoLopes. A MulLlchannel Analyzer ls a very useful Lool for measurlng peak energles ln
con[uncLlon wlLh a nal(1l) deLecLor.




Suggest|ons for Iuture Work
Cne suggesLlon l could Lhlnk of was LhaL ln some of Lhe sLeps where we were supposed Lo record daLa
such as Lhe lWPM, noLhlng was sald abouL recordlng Lhe energles assoclaLed wlLh Lhe peaks, whlch
Lurned ouL Lo be relevanL Lo Lhe calculaLlons.