Intrinsic Energy Resolution of a Scintillation Detector.

At present, the intrinsic energy resolution of a scintillation detector is understood by many authors in different ways. The existing formulas for energy resolution differ not only in names, but also in the physical meaning of the processes they take into account. The main drawback of all these theories of scintillation spectrometers is the unjustified introduction of different terms into the formula for the energy resolution without considering their connection with the specific characteristics of the scintillation detector. The intrinsic energy resolution of a scintillation detector is most correctly defined as the unavoidable limit that can be reached when all the parameters of the detector reach their limiting values without their fluctuations. On the basis of the microscopic standard theory of scintillation detectors, it is shown that the intrinsic energy resolution is determined by the light yield nonlinearity and fluctuations in the number of electron–hole pairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]