A massive thermal detector consisting of a 73 g TeO₂ crystal, to be used to search for double beta decay of ¹³⁰Te and to detect high energy gamma-rays, is operating at aprox. 15 mK in the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory. The FWHM resolution achieved with this detector is 5-8 KeV, slightly dependent on energy from 100 KeV to 3 MeV, showing the competitive performances of this detector in gamma-ray spectroscopy comparable with those of conventional Ge solid state detectors. Moreover this is the first massive high-resolution gamma-ray detector of atomic number larger than 32, which implies a peak to Compton ratio comparable to that of a Ge diode of a mass larger by an order of magnitude.

Date Published: 22 December 1992
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 1734, Gamma-Ray Detectors, (22 December 1992); doi: 10.1117/12.138587

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1734:
Gamma-Ray Detectors
Elena Aprile, Editor(s)