Gamma Spectrometry Forum

Hi guys,

my name is Martin Malik and I'm from Slovakia.
My primary profession is system/low-level programming. I'm also author of a free hardware detection/monitoring tool called HWiNFO.
Nuclear science has been my hobby for a long time, I'm also a passionate periodic table elements collector.
I'm currently owning some Gammascout counters but I was pondering for several months to acquire a device for spectrocopy. Originally I was thinking about a portable nuclide identifier like Polimaster PM1704A, but given the higher price (not mentioning something like FLIR Identifinder) and limited usage/precision I think I'll better go for a GSB-2020-PRO :-) Looks to be very nice piece, though I'm not a pro in this field.
I also have a few exotic samples in my elements collection that need to be tested ;-)

I have a few questions tho -
What options are there to identify nuclides that don't release any (or very little) gamma, i.e. Tritium or Po-210 ?
Does anyone have suggestions for a neutron detector (fast and slow), preferably usable with the GS drivers ? I have read that your GS-NEUTRON-150 is suitable for thermal only.

Regards,
Martin

Hi Martin,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for introducing yourself.

Regarding your questions:

What options are there to identify nuclides that don't release any (or very little) gamma, i.e. Tritium or Po-210 ?

Sometimes you can identify alpha or beta emitters indirectly via gamma rays emitted by their daughter nuclides, but sometimes you cant, in this case you can buy PMT type alpha detectors that will work with the GS.

Does anyone have suggestions for a neutron detector (fast and slow), preferably usable with the GS drivers ?

For a fast neutron detector an Li6 crystal with a small PMT does a pretty good job, and it connects straight to the GS without any modifications because it it uses a PMT. If you are confident to roll your own, these Li6 crystals have been showing up on eBay lately. I have bought several of these myself.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SAIC-Neutron-Ra ... SwDNdV14Fn

I have read that your GS-NEUTRON-150 is suitable for thermal only

.

Most neutron counters detect thermal neutrons but this just means you need to surround the detector with a moderator. Check out Carl Willis web site on special nuclear material I think he has a video demonstrating this.

https://carlwillis.wordpress.com/2010/0 ... -on-video/

Let us know how you go.

Steven

Hi Martin,

I am glad that here is someone from neighboring country, as I am from Czechia.

Radionuclides which emit a beta and alpha radiation could be identified by liquid scintillation technique combined with spectrometric detection and alpha emitting radionuclides could be detected by alpha spectrometry using semiconductor detectors as is silicon detector (PIPS).

Regards,

Vit

Hi Steven,
Thanks for your feedback. The neutron moderation video by Carl was really interesting.
I'm certainly not able to build my own detectors (lack of time + experience), so I will have to rely on complete solutions. Any suggestions perhaps?
I'm still pondering which GSB kit to buy.. How would you explain the advantages of GSB-2020-PRO over the 1515 to a spectroscopy beginner ? I suppose it's the higher energy range + precision? Anything else, or some disadvantages perhaps (except the SHV connector) ?

Hi Vit,
and thanks for the information.
I live in Malacky, that's very close to Brno :-)

Martin,

A detector with a bigger crystal has more stopping power, so you see more of the higher energy gamma. In a smaller detector like the GS-1515 many of the high energy photons pass right through without interacting, but some still do. The largest practical detector for hobby use is a 3x3" detector, but these can be quite expensive.

Sometimes we want the higher energy gamma to pass through, so we make detectors with crystals as thin as 1 mm, these are for detecting x-rays only.

As for the GS-2020 and GS-1515 the resolution is in the same range for both.

What is your intended use for the neutron detector?

Steven

Thanks, Steven.
Well, I'm just going to start with gamma spectroscopy so initially I wanted to analyze a few samples from my collection. Then I wanted to continue with other samples collected all around. Later try some experiments like a,n, etc.. Don't know yet where this will end :-D so I guess a more flexible equipment would be better...
As for the neutron detector my initial idea is to check a,n reactions, SF, detect fission.