Report on the GC-MBS method for correcting NaI spectra for transmission loss in hand-held instruments

摘要

The goals of this project were (1) to develop a capability to study the scattered components in the NaI spectra of attenuated sources and (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of the gross count material basis set (GC-MBS) method in quantifying transmission losses from the shapes of measured NaI spectra. These goals are related, as the GC-MBS method involves a linear log-spectrum decomposition into MBS component spectra, and scattered gamma rays represent a significant nonlinear interference. Eventually, the authors hope to understand the effect of the scattered components on the MBS decomposition and to develop ways to correct for inaccuracies. As of this writing the authors have not reached that long-term objective, so the two halves of this project are treated here as separate topics, with a separate section for each. They have substantially achieved both of the project goals and are collecting additional data for two publications at the upcoming IEEE conference in Albuquerque, NM--one paper about their work on scattering and another on the GC-MBS method. This project report will contain preliminary portions of those two papers.