Performance comparison of four compact room-temperature detectors -: two cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) semiconductor detectors, a LaCl3(Ce) scintillator, and an NaI(T1) scintillator

The performance characteristics of four compact, room-temperature detectors - two scintillators and two semiconductor detectors - were studied. All are commercially-available detectors. The two scintillators were a 013 mm x 13 mm lanthanum chloride [LaCl3(Ce)] detector and a 025 mm x 25 mm sodium iodide [NaI(TI)] detector. The two semiconductor detectors were a 10 mm x 10 mm x 3 mm cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detector with a coplanar gridded anode and a 5 min x 5 mm x 5 mm CZT detector with an mextended cathode. The efficiency, resolution, and peak shape of these devices are compared. Since LaCl3(Ce) is a relatively new commercial scintillator material, additional information on the performance of this detector is presented. Specifically, the impact of naturally-occurring radioactive La-138 and additional contamination from alpha-emitting radionuclides on the background measured with this detector are discussed.