Annihilation radiation Annihilation radiation Annihilation radiation is a term used in Gamma spectroscopy for the gamma radiation produced when a particle and its antiparticle collide and annihilate. Most commonly, this refers to 511-keV gamma rays produced by a normal (negative) electron colliding with a positron. Annihilation radiation is not monoenergetic, unlike gamma rays produced by radioactive decay. The production mechanism of annihilation radiation introduces Doppler broadening. The annihilation peak produced in a gamma spectrum by annihilation radiation therefore has a higher full width at half maximum (FWHM) than other gamma rays in spectrum. The difference is more apparent with high resolution detectors,
Lazarus effect therefore inactive. Trapping of electrons and holes generated by particles traversing the detector is then prevented and little or no signal is lost. The understanding of this has been detailed in a number of papers. Thanks to the Lazarus effect, silicon detectors have been proven to be able survive radiation doses in excess of 90 GRad and they have been proposed for future high luminosity experiments. Lazarus effect The Lazarus effect refers to semiconductor detectors; when these are used in harsh radiation environments, defects begin to appear in the semiconductor crystal lattice as atoms become displaced because of the interaction