Experiment and Monte Carlo simulation of gamma-ray backscattering from materials for nondestructive testing.

Study of gamma-backscattered peaks is important for the estimation of composition, density, defects and thickness of the scattering materials. In the present study, gamma rays from a point source of 137Cs were scattered onto materials of different atomic numbers and NaI(Tl) scintillator detector was used for collection of backscattered events. It is observed that the area under the backscattering peak is dissimilar for materials of different atomic numbers with variable thickness. Simulation of the experiment was carried out using GEANT4 for the validation of the experimental findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]