Review Article : Applicable methods of evaluating peak area of gamma ray spectra

Abstract

Gamma ray spectra have interesting information about energy and intensity of gamma photons. Normally, this information is available in the peak area and background region. A full energy peak sits on a background continuum and produced by full energy absorption of high energy photons, while background region is produced by Compton scattering of the photons. The most essential concern of errors is in the method of determining the events in both peak and background areas. The uncertainty is low when the background counts are small relative to the peak counts. However, it becomes high when the counts of the peak area are low with respect to that of background. The detection threshold for the peak is ultimately determined by the uncertainty in the background counts. This depends on the technique used and the form of the produced spectra. This paper reviews different methods of determining peak area and their associated uncertainties in terms of the principle and application of the techniques used.

Keywords

• peak area
• gaussian shape
• roi
• fwhm
• asymptote