Cadium-Zinc-Telluride (CZT) Gamma Ray Spectrometry

This report describes CZT crystals and their use in large arrays for generation of gamma ray spectra. Laboratory spectra will be shown together with spectra accumulated by various battery powered portable instruments (see Appendix A). One of these portable instruments was specifically constructed to minimize power consumption and yet provide reasonable isotope identification capability. Detailed data will be presented covering gamma energy resolution, gamma peak shapes, system background, and detector efficiency. Nearly all data were taken with very small crystals of CZT; cubes 5 mm on a side. A few spectra will be presented from cylindrical crystals of about the same size (see Appendix A). The small crystal size leads to low counting rates and extended counting times for reliable isotope identification. We have addressed this problem by using arrays of CZT crystals, initially two crystals and, at present, arrays of eight crystals. Data will be shown relating spectral parameters for these two arrays. System MDA is one way of combining resolution, efficiency, and background that will enable direct comparison of various detector types for individual isotope identification. We have calculated the MDA for an early dual crystal array and the current eight crystal array. Data derived from each array will be presented. In addition, it is possible to extrapolate the MDA methodology to much larger arrays. A 32-crystal array is under construction and extrapolations to 256 and 1024 crystals are considered possible. Estimated MDA values for these larger arrays are also presented. Several 8-crystal arrays have been constructed and versions have been incorporated into portable instruments. Descriptions of these small instruments are given covering physical size, weight, and general configuration. These instruments have been tested for shock and temperature effects and data will be presented on the results of these tests. The MDA concept will also allow extrapolation to large source to detector distances. The usual laboratory measurements are done with small sources at 20 to 50 cm ranges. Practical ranges for aerial work will be 50 to 100 meters or greater. These distances will require correction for air attenuation for most of the low energy isotopes. The approximations used in the present note for aerial measurements involve small diameter sources (diameter approximately equal to the altitude), a 1 kt pass, and a planar array with no aircraft attenuation material in the field of view. The array will have a collimator to limit the side-looking sensitivity to enable a more accurate extrapolation from the laboratory data. Large arrays will have significant physical size and weight compared to the small hand-held instruments thus far constructed. We estimate these parameters and extrapolate the power consumption to provide a realistic estimate of a suitable airborne system. In all cases these larger systems are lighter and physically more compact than the usual NaI or high purity Germanium (HPGe) systems used in aerial work. Thus deployment should be simple. The power consumption is much less as well