Compton rejection for HPGe detectors via real-time pulse shape analysis’

A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory-developed pulse shape analysis (PSA) technique which performs real-time Compton suppression in High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors without the use of anti-coincidence detectors is described. Some preliminary measurements of a variety of sources with a standard HPGe detector system and our prototype PSA algorithm have been made and indicate that a reduction in Compton continuum can be achieved via PSA. These measurements represent an initial assessment of the effectiveness of the prototype PSA system for the improvement of spectral quality and future improvements are expected. Additional work is progressing to optimize the effectiveness of the algorithm for Compton rejection in standard HPGe detectors. Work is also progressing to extend the methodology to segmented HPGe detectors which could potentially yield significantly better Compton rejection and gamma-ray imaging.