Spectroscopy identification performance enhancement of a novel CZT/CsI hybrid system

New hybrid spectroscopic systems directly combine spectra from detectors with very different energy resolutions, accommodating standard analyses of the output hybrid spectrum. Simulations of a hybrid system consisting of a 2 or 4 cm3 cadmium zinc telluride detector combined with a 32.8 cm3 CsI(Tl) were evaluated for identification performance. 29 nuclides of interest for security applications were simulated as singles and unique pairs, producing 435 spectral simulations at live times of 3, 10, 30, 100 and 300 seconds. The nuclides were modeled as point sources at 25 cm with activities that provide an interesting range of statistical significance for the range of counting times. Standard nuclide identification analyses were applied to the component detectors as well as the hybrid combination. Tallies of the results were used to calculate true and false identification rates. The hybrid system was shown to provide an identification performance benefit, consistently achieving performances closest to ideal relative to the separate component detectors. The hybrid approach enables the consideration of a greater variety of measurement system solutions in terms of cost and performance. (authors)