Gamma-Ray Spectral Unfolding of CdZnTe-Based Detectors Using a Genetic Algorithm

The analysis of γ-ray spectra can be an arduous task, especially in the case of room temperature semiconductor detectors, where several distortions and instrumental artifacts conceal the true spectral shape. We developed a genetic algorithm to perform the unfolding of γ-spectra in order to restore the true energy distribution of the incoming radiation. We successfully validated our approach on experimental spectra of four radionuclides (241Am, 57Co, 137Cs and 133Ba) acquired with two CdZnTe-based detectors with different contact geometries (single pixel and drift strip). The unfolded spectra consist of δ-like peaks in correspondence with the radiation emissions of each radioisotope.