Measurement of the gamma-ray sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio of a new scattered-electron detector

A new detector suitable for measuring high intensity pulsed gamma-ray sources and based upon scattered-electron method is proposed. The detector has a relatively flat energy response in the range of 0.4-5 MeV and works in current mode. The performances of the detector under several conditions were studied by Monte Carlo simulation using the MCNP code. A comparison between calculations and measurements performed using the 1.25 MeV line of Co-60 is also addressed. The experimental signal produced by the detector was thus studied and decomposed into its main components in order to establish the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The latter is compared to SNR calculated for other type of detectors.