A comparison of emerging gamma detector technologies for airborne radiation monitoring

Abstract

This paper presents a comparison of new and emerging gamma detector technologies that have the potential to improve in-situ dose and radioactivity-in-air measurements for national monitoring networks. Five detectors were chosen for investigation; LaBr3(Ce), CeBr3, SiPM-CsI(Tl), Cd(Zn)Te and electromechanically-cooled HPGe. These detectors represent the full range of the price-performance matrix. Comparisons have been made of energy resolution, detection efficiency and minimum detectable activity by exposing each detector to a mixed radionuclide source drop-deposited across a filter. Other factors, such as internal radioactivity, linearity, size and cost have also been considered.