RESULT DATA SHEET 1 Gamma Scintillation Detector Counter: Source: 137Cs (1Ci) Voltage: 1000V Channel (LL) 0.

2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Counts 1954 2354 1952 1603 1681 1743 2270 2614 2323 1937 1579 1459 1363 1305 1256 1270 1332 1417 1182 829 448 270 220 207 271 808 3960 8097 5837 1408 163 31 Channel 3.4 3.5 Counts 23 13

9000 8500 8000 7500 7000 6500 6000 5500 Count/sample 5000 4500 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000

500
0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 Channel number 2.5 3 3.5 4

Graph 1

DATA SHEET 2 Gamma Scintillation Detector Counter: Source: 60Co Voltage: 1000V Channel (LL) 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Counts 536 803 658 549 549 568 592 729 888 844 676 643 563 513 473 429 422 423 389 369 407 413 427 373 372 419 387 368 424 364 394 426 Channel 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Counts 421 460 453 489 475 482 442 423 415 354 323 321 320 290 303 531 939 1159 742 308 129 212 491 807 883 511 216 85 33 24

1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300

Count/channel

200 100
0 0 1 2 3 Channel number 4 5 6 7

Graph 2

DATA SHEET 3 Gamma Scintillation Detector Counter: Source: unknown Voltage: 1000V Channel (LL) 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Counts 4577 4874 4679 4265 4309 3859 4231 5970 5643 4799 3995 3507 3339 3143 3059 2929 2927 2871 2857 2881 3061 3014 2956 3189 3246 2668 1857 1138 726 581 492 679 Channel 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Counts 1658 6323 14639 14713 7062 1297 227 91 78 102 103 88 73 68

17000 16000 15000 14000 13000 12000 11000 10000 Count/Channel 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 Channel Number 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Graph 3

Energy Calibration Curve Event Photopeak Photopeak Photopeak (KeV) 661.6 1173.2 1332.5 Disc. Setting (LL)(V) 2.9 5.1 5.8

1400

1200

1000

830
Energy (eV) 800

600

400

200

0 0 1 2 3

3.7 4

Channel Number

Graph 4

From data sheet 3 (unknown source), we know that the energy peak is at 3.7 (channel number). When we plot the point at energy calibration curve of the spectrometer, we got the energy of the unknown source which is 830 eV. Calculation of Energy Resolution of NaI(TI) Detector Using formula (1) from graph 1 the resolution, R is

= 0.25

= 8.62% From graph 2 there are two resolutions because of two peaks

= 0.35

= 0.30

= 6.86% From graph 3 the resolution, R is

= 5.17%

= 0.30

= 8.12%

Discussion In this experiment we will study the radioactive decay of a nucleus by detecting gamma rays emitted consequent to the decay. Gamma ray detection is a slightly complicated, multi-step process: the gamma ray enters a NaI(Tl) scintillator crystal where it produces a rapidly moving free electron that, in turn, loses its energy by excitation of the ions in its path as it travels through the crystal. This excitation energy is given off in various ways, one them being emission of visible light (fluorescence). Thus a single high energy gamma ray entering the scintillator produces a flash of low energy photons. These photons are directed to the photosensitive surface of a photomultiplier tube, where they eject electrons via the photoelectric effect. The electrons are collected in the photomultiplier and amplified to yield a current pulse, which is converted to a voltage pulse whose height is proportional to the number of photoelectrons and is thus proportional to the number of photons reaching the tube, which in turn is proportional to the initial energy of the fast electron. When a radioactive source is placed near the scintillator, the photomultiplier produces a series of pulses, each corresponding to the decay of a single nucleus. The amplitude of each pulse is related to the energy of the electron freed by the gamma ray. These pulses are studied using either a single- or multi-channel analyzer. A single channel analyzer (SCA) counts on the number of voltage pulses whose height falls within a given (adjustable) window of values, while a multi-channel analyzer (MCA) sorts the pulses according to height and the counts the number in each window to give a spectral (energy) distribution of the fast electrons. Figure 4 shows a typical MCA spectrum. In order to relate this spectrum to the nuclear decay, we need to understand how gamma rays interact with matter. When entering a crystal, gamma rays produce fast charged electrons by three different processes: the photoelectric effect, the Compton effect (Compton scattering) and pair production. It is these fast electrons, which give rise to scintillations, not the gamma ray. The observed spectral distribution will thus depend on the detailed interaction process of the gamma rays in the crystal. Consider a beam of mono-energetic gamma rays striking the scintillator. For our purposes the most important energy loss mechanism is the photoelectric effect. When a gamma ray strikes an ion in the crystal, it is absorbed and all of its energy is transferred to one of the bound electrons, which is freed and moves rapidly through the crystal. Since the energy of the gamma ray (typically about 0.5 MeV) is much greater than the binding energy of the electron of the ion (typically 10 to 100 eV), the energy of the freed electron can be considered equal to that of the incoming gamma. (Especially since the energy resolution of the detector is only about 10%.) Thus the photoelectric effect results in a peak, called the photopeak, in the photomultiplier spectrum at an energy equal to that of the incoming gamma ray.

From graph 1 we got the peak value is at 2.9 (channel value) while from the graph 2 we got the peak value at 5.1 and 5.8. When we draw a graph of vs discriminator setting using this value we got a linear graph. This is known as the energy calibration curve of the spectrometer (see figure 6). We use this curve to find the gamma ray energy of an unknown source by reassuring is spectrum under the same condition. From the graph 3 which is using unknown source, we got the peak value at 3.7 (channel number). When we plot this value at graph 4, we got the energy is about 830 eV. According to the unknown sources peak energy is830 keV and based on the graph 4 it is the Mn 54 and its half-life is 312.2 A NaI(Tl) detector has an energy resolution of only about 10%. When a beam of monoenergetic gamma rays strikes the scintillator, there is a fluctuation from gamma ray to gamma ray in the height of the voltage pulse from the photomultiplier, which shows up as a broadening of the photopeak. The pulse height variation is chiefly due to statistical fluctuations in the number of electrons emitted at the cathode of the photomultiplier when a flash of photons arrives from the scintillator, but is also due to the occasional escape of electrons, X-rays or gamma rays from the crystal, all of which depend on how large the NaI crystal is. The fractional full width of a peak at half its maximum height (FWHM) is a convenient measure of the resolution of the instrument. From the calculation of the energy resolution, R at each graph we got the percent is below than 10% which means the ability to resolve two peaks that are fairly close together in energy is high for graph 1 and 3 and low for graph 2. Reference AN34: Experiments in Nuclear Science, 3rd Ed., EG & G Ortec. Experiment 1, Basic identifications in Electronic Measurement Systems, pp 1-7; Experiment 3, Gamma Spectroscopy Using NaI, pp 15-24; Linear and Logic Signals in EG & G Ortec NIM Instruments, pp159-160 D.W. Preston & E.R. Dietz: The Art of Experimental Physics, Appendix B Counting and Sorting Particles: The Scintillation Counter, pp376-385 general theory Serway, Moses and Moyer: Modern Physics, pp 431-432 (scintillator/photomultiplier), 389392 (beta and gamma decay) Beiser: Concepts of Modern Physics, pp 443, 471-473 (gamma decay) Halliday: Introductory Nuclear Physics Siegbahn: Alpha, Beta and Gamma Ray Spectroscopy