The ORTEC Products Group has introduced a Harsh Environment (HE) detector as a new option for its ORTEC Pop-Top GEM and GMX coaxial high-resolution detector line.

Product Manager for Detectors for the ORTEC Products Group, Mr Ben Kennedy said  development of the HE Detector greatly broadens the range of applications for the versatile high-resolution detectors. “It allows users to take measurements in previously prohibited environments,” Mr Kennedy said.

“By coupling a corrosion-resistant carbon fiber end cap with an environmentally sealed electronics chamber, we now are able to deploy high-purity germanium-based (HPGe) GEM and GMX coaxial detectors in otherwise prohibitive environments without reducing spectroscopic performance,” he said.

The carbon fiber endcap provides a thin radiation entrance window without the additional radioactive background found in most metal alloys.  By sealing the electronics within a heavily anodised shroud, HPGe detectors can be used in situations where dirt, dust, and moisture may have otherwise made their use prohibitive. A replaceable desiccant pack ensures the electronics chamber stays dry.
ORTEC has more than 40 years of experience in the design and manufacture of highly sensitive radiation detectors that are used by government and industrial laboratories, nuclear facilities and medical research and in nuclear safeguards.
 
ORTEC is one of only two private manufacturers worldwide with the ability to produce germanium crystals with purity levels high enough to make high-resolution radiation detectors.

ORTEC was originally founded in 1960 by a group of scientists from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States to provide a commercial source for research grade silicon surface barrier charged particle detectors.

High-technology instrumentation is designed and manufactured by ORTEC and used for basic scientific studies of the structure and behaviour of the atom, for physics and biomedical research, and for industrial areas associated with non-destructive materials analysis.