Energy nonlinearity in radiation detection materials: Causes and consequences

The phenomenology and present theoretical understanding of energy nonlinearity (nonproportionality) in radiation detection materials is reviewed, with emphasis on gamma-ray spectroscopy. Scintillators display varying degrees and patterns of nonlinearity, while semiconductor detectors are extremely linear, and gas detectors show a characteristic form of nonproportionality associated with core levels. The relation between nonlinear response (to both primary particles and secondary electrons) and spectrometer resolution is also discussed. We review the qualitative ideas about the origin of nonlinearity in scintillators that have been proposed to date, with emphasis on transport and recombination of electronic excitations. Recent computational and experimental work on the basic physics of scintillators is leading towards a better understanding of energy nonlinearity and should result in new, more linear scintillator materials in the near future.