Development and performance characteristics of personal gamma spectrometer for radiation monitoring applications

Abstract

In this study, a personal gamma (γ) spectrometer was developed for use in applications in various fields, such as homeland security and environmental radiation monitoring systems. The prototype consisted of a 3 x 3 x 20 mm3 Ce-doped Gd-Al-Ga-garnet (Ce:GAGG) crystal that was coupled to a Si photomultiplier (SiPM) to measure γ radiation. The γ spectrometer could be accessed remotely via a mobile device. At room temperature, the implemented Ce:GAGG-SiPM spectrometer achieved energy resolutions of 13.5%, 6.9%, 5.8%, and 2.3% for133Ba at 0.356 MeV,22Na at 0.511 MeV,137Cs at 0.662 MeV, and60Co at 1.33 MeV, respectively. It consumed only about 2.7 W of power, had a mass of just 340 g (including the battery), and measured only 5.0 x 7.0 cm2.