Calculating off-axis efficiency of coaxial HPGe detectors by Monte Carlo simulation

Omer, M.  ; Shizuma, Toshiyuki*; Hajima, Ryoichi*; Koizumi, Mitsuo 

In beam geometries where a directed -ray beam hits the surface of a coaxial high purity germanium detector (HPGe), the detector efficiency is sensitive to the position where -rays initially hit the detector surface because the structure of the detector is nonuniform. This may cause inaccuracy of the detector efficiency when measured using standard sources that are point-like sources emitting -rays isotropically. Obtaining a precise estimation of the full energy peak efficiency of the coaxial HPGe detector in the beam geometry for on-axis and off-axis measurements requires a Monte Carlo simulation. We performed a Monte Carlo simulation that calculates the detector efficiency in the beam geometry. The effects of the off-axis distance and -ray beam size on the efficiency are quantitatively analyzed. We found that the intrinsic efficiency in the beam geometry is maximized when the beam hits the detector at specific off-axis distances. Our Monte Carlo calculations have been supported by a nuclear resonance fluorescence experiment using laser Compton scattering -ray beam.