https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-007-0390-8
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
Pulse shapes from electron and photon induced events in segmented high-purity germanium detectors
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, Föhringer Ring 6, 80805, Munich, Germany
* e-mail: kroening@mppmu.mpg.de
Received:
22
May
2007
Revised:
29
June
2007
Published online:
10
August
2007
Experiments built to search for neutrinoless double beta-decay are limited in their sensitivity not only by the exposure but also by the amount of background encountered. Radioactive isotopes in the surrounding of the detectors which emit gamma-radiation are expected to be a significant source of background in the GERmanium Detector Array, GERDA. Methods to select electron induced events and discriminate against photon induced events inside a germanium detector are presented in this paper. The methods are based on the analysis of the time structure of the detector response. Data were taken with a segmented GERDA prototype detector. It is shown that the analysis of the time response of the detector can be used to distinguish multiply scattered photons from electrons.
© Springer-Verlag , 2007
