Demonstration of three-dimensional imaging with a germanium Compton camera

A proof-of-concept experiment was performed to demonstrate the three-dimensional imaging capabilities of an all-germanium Compton camera for near-field sources. Eight high purity germanium (HPGe) coaxial detectors were configured in two planes of four detectors each. The data acquisition system was assembled from available hardware and off-the-shelf electronics using standard NIM and CAMAC modules. Sixteen-parameter data were recorded event-by-event for later analysis and image reconstruction. The energy resolution of the system was 0.3% at 1333 keV. Preliminary analysis indicates the position resolution for a source at one meter and a specific detector geometry was less than a centimeter