Monte Carlo simulation of background components in low level Germanium spectrometry

Nicola Ackermann; Hannes Bonet; Christian Buck; Oleg Chkvorets; Janina Hakenmüller; Gerd Heusser; Matthias Laubenstein; Manfred Lindner; Werner Maneschg; Jochen Schreiner; Herbert Strecker

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110652

Monte Carlo simulation of background components in low level Germanium spectrometry

Appl Radiat Isot. 2023 Apr:194:110652. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110652. Epub 2023 Jan 20.

Affiliations

¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: ackerm@mpi-hd.mpg.de.
² Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
³ Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Via G. Acitelli 22, 67100 Assergi L'Aquila, Italy.

PMID: 36801521
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110652

Abstract

This proceeding presents the decomposition of the background spectra of the four screening detectors GeMPI 1 - 4 at the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory (LNGS) using Monte Carlo simulations in the Geant4-based framework MaGe. A detailed understanding of the composition of the background spectra was achieved, allowing for the proposal of two new shield designs for future GeMPI-like detectors and enabling a reduction of the integrated background count rate to 15 counts/d/kg in the interval [40, 2700] keV.

Keywords: Background; Germanium spectroscopy; Low radiation; Material screening; Monte Carlo simulation.