Analytical computation of the Compton continuum in gamma-ray spectrometry

In gamma-ray spectrometry with solid state detectors if the photons have only one collision in the detector, the peak to total ratio should be equal to the ratio of photoelectric to total cross sections. However, it is well known that it is higher and increases with the detector size for all energies due to multiple collisions in the detector. With the data on the difference between the two ratios we estimate the higher order collisions and use this estimate to compute the counts distribution in the Compton continuum. The method is simple and essentially physics oriented without recourse to any empirical fitting of the spectral data. Results compare remarkably well with the experimental observations of Compton continuum. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.