Gamma-ray tracking with segmented HPGe detectors

This paper gives a brief overview of the technical progress that can be achieved with the newly available segmented HPGe detectors. Gamma-ray tracking detectors are a new generation of HPGe detectors which are currently being developed to improve significantly the efficiency and resolving power of the 4pi germanium detectors arrays for high-precision gamma-ray spectroscopy. They consist of highly segmented HPGe detectors associated with fast digital front-end electronics. Through the pulse-shape analysis of the signals it is possible to extract the energy, timing and spatial information on the few interactions a gamma-ray undergoes in the HPGe detector. The tracks of the gamma-rays in the HPGe detector can then be reconstructed in three dimensions based on the Compton scattering formula. Such a detector has been used for the first time during an in-beam experiment. The gamma-decay of the Coulomb excitation of a 56Fe nucleus was measured with the highly segmented MARS prototype positioned at 135 degree. The energy resolution has been improved by a factor of 3 as compared to standard HPGe detectors due to very precise Doppler correction based on knowledge of the gamma-ray track