A method to estimate a contribution of Ge(n,n′) reaction to the low-energy part of gamma spectra of HPGe detectors

Long-time background spectra of a well-shielded HPGe detector are recorded in order to estimate the contribution of inelastic neutron scattering on Ge nuclei in the low-energy part of the spectra, mainly influenced by elastic neutron collisions. It is shown that using intensities of several asymmetric peaks characteristic of Ge(n,n′) reactions and some properties of detectors (ability for total absorption or total transmission of gamma photons emitted during de-excitation of Ge nuclei) the contribution of Ge(n,n′) reactions to the low-energy part of spectra can be evaluated. The obtained result is in good agreement with results of simulations available in the literature.