PUC Program: the pulse pile up correction for X-ray and gamma ray spectrometry

Abstract

Pile up and dead time are two important corrections in the analysis of X-ray and gamma ray spectra. The most important of these is pile up correction because these peaks do not really exist in the spectra; they only seem to exist. For this reason, these peaks affect both the qualitative and quantitative accuracy of the analysis. In addition, the pile up pulses forming the pile up peaks increase the background count in the spectrum. Companies that produce X-ray or gamma ray detector systems design pile up reject circuits and integrate them into detector systems to prevent these pulses. These circuits have time limitations because they are made up of electronic devices. For this reason, the pile up problem cannot be solved completely in these circuits. Therefore, mathematical models based on a statistical approach are needed. Such a model was developed in this study. A computer program based on this model was developed. This developed program has been applied to X-ray and gamma ray spectra. It has been shown that this model provides about 2% correction in the main peak regions and significantly reduces background counts.