A comprehensive self-induced and ambient background study of the Balqarad clover

This study is part of the Balqarad system's commissioning project. Optimizing the radioactivity detection and measurement using the Balqarad setup is highly important to investigate and explain the self-induced and ambient backgrounds to determine the actual sample-related features in the spectra acquired.

Balqarad is a radiation detection system composed of a clover, a variety of scintillators, lead shielding, and the standard electronics needed for the construction of gamma spectra. Four distinct setup configurations were set up to measure background radiation using a tailored analysis code.

Background radiation from Balqarad components was assessed using two-dimensional background spectra features (hotspots and lines). Background sources in the system’s proximity were studied using one-dimensional spectra in both direct (single) and addback modes. Furthermore, these spectra were crucial in detecting and investigating any potential ²⁰⁷Bi contamination of the bismuth germanium oxide (BGO) material. The results show that the decay from ^{211 + 211m}Po to the energy levels of ^207mPb was measured, and this could be incorrectly interpreted as the decay of ²⁰⁷Bi. Another noteworthy finding is the presence of a 59.5 keV peak, which was a significant contribution from the shielding to the detector’s background. This study also confirmed the detection of the cosmic peak of ^74*Ge generated by the (n, γ) reaction at 596.5 keV in the Ge-BGO system.

The technique was applied for Balqarad setup components in different configurations for background measurement. The study applied a coincidence/anticoincidence technique to the various configurations, resulting in a reduced cosmic background and the Compton continuum by a factor of 53%.