HPGe Compton suppression using pulse shape analysis

We present a new technique for High Purity Germanium (HPGe) Compton suppression using pulse shape analysis (PSA). The novel aspect of our approach involves a complete unfolding of the charge pulse shape into discrete components associated with individual gamma-ray interactions. The information thus acquired is then used to favorably reject Compton escape events. The advantage of the current PSA approach, as compared with ether recent approaches, is the potential to reject not only single-site escape events, but also multiple-site escape events. Here we discuss the details of our algorithm, and present experimental results from a real-time implementation on a 5 cm x 5 cm HPGe. An experimental comparison with a standard EGO suppressor is also shown. In addition, we discuss the improvements to the current PSA approach which are possible if one can highly segment the outer contact of the HPGe. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.