Investigation of the Compton Rescue technique

This paper summarizes an investigation of a process to improve the efficiency of position-sensitive gamma-radiation measurements from thin, planar semiconductor detectors. The method entails the use of a second, more efficient coaxial bulk detector placed behind a position-sensitive planar detector to collect Compton scattered photons that escape the volume of the position-sensitive detector. The technique is termed Compton rescue. The investigation consisted of two phases. First, a Monte-Carlo simulation was conducted to test feasibility of employing the technique. The simulation predicted the increase in detection efficiency by directly counting the number of photons added to the data set by Compton rescue and comparing to the number detected without the use of the technique. The simulation indicated that the technique could improve detection efficiency by approximately doubling the number of full-energy photons detected. The technique was tested in a laboratory setting using a coaxial semiconductor detector in coincidence with a thin, planar position-sensitive semiconductor detector. An efficiency improvement of approximately 20% was measured. The effect of Compton rescue data on the energy resolution of the position-sensitive detector was also determined.