Proton-Induced Gamma-ray Emission System with a Compton Suppression Detector and Pulsed Beam

Abstract

The prompt gamma-rays, which are emitted from a sample under the proton-induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) reaction, are always interfered with by the signals corresponding to natural environmental radiation and beam-associated backgrounds. These interferences can be decreased by selecting those events that correspond to the moment of arrival of the ion burst at the target by using a pulsed beam and by using a Compton suppression detector to remove the Compton background under a photopeak. The characteristics of a PIGE system with these features were investigated by quantitatively analyzing the composition of a geological standard sample of SCo-1. Especially, a quantitative analysis of Na based on Si was shown to have an improvement of 58 %.