Developing digital pulse processing unit for the HPGe gamma spectrometer

Abstract High-purity germanium (HPGe) detector is one of the best detectors for gamma spectrometry due to its excellent energy resolution. In a previous publication, we were interested in implementing a low-cost digital pulse processing (DPP) unit for sodium iodide detectors. This implementation was based on the SAM3X8E microcontroller unit. In this paper, we use the same microcontroller unit to develop a DPP unit for an HPGe detector. The developed unit is compared with a commercial device. The achieved energy resolution of the developed unit is worse than what is achieved by a commercial unit, but it still can be used as a low-cost alternative. The proposed DPP unit is ideal for identifying radioisotopes in applications prioritizing affordability, portability, and ease of use over high-end resolution. It is suitable for environmental monitoring, nuclear security, and educational labs, benefiting from its cost-effective and accessible design.