Comparative analysis of natural background spectrum acquired by unshielded NaI(Tl) and HPGe detectors

In the field of gamma spectroscopy, the NaI(Tl) and HPGe detectors hold special places and both are unique in their own ways catering to two complimentary streams of application - High efficiency and High resolution. In the present study, NaI(Tl) detector( 3” x 3” , ORTEC make)) and HPGe detector (30%, ORTEC make) are compared. Numerous comparative studies have already been reported in literature covering different areas of application. The present study is unique in terms of analyzing their special performance feature namely the ambient background radiation measurement. The background spectrums acquired by the detectors are analyzed and the detector’s characteristic response to different gamma energies and also the different sources viz. terrestrial gammas, cosmic and scatter part are quantified.