Conversion electron Mössbauer spectrometer with a YAG:Ce scintillator

In this work we report the development of a new scintillation detector of conversion electrons for ⁵⁷Fe conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy. The detector, a photomultiplier tube with a 5 μm YAG:Ce scintillator, is sensitive to both X-rays and (conversion) electrons. Electrons and X-rays have different average depths from which they come out of the sample. The detected electrons are much more likely to come from close to the surface, whereas X-rays can come from greater depths in the sample. By applying an electric field over the sample and detector, electrons were accelerated towards the detector making more electrons being detected and giving them higher energies. On the other hand, X-rays were not influenced by the electric field making the electrons distinguishable from X-rays and the background.