Position sensitivity in large spectroscopic LaBr3:Ce crystals for Doppler broadening correction

The position sensitivity of a large LaBr3:Ce crystal was investigated with the aim of correcting for the Doppler broadening in nuclear physics experiments. The crystal was cylindrical, 3 in×3 in (7.62 cm x 7.62 cm) and with diffusive surfaces as typically used in nuclear physics basic research to measure medium or high energy gamma rays (0.5 MeV<20 MeV). The crystal was coupled to Position Sensitive Photomultipliers (PSPMT). The signals from the 256 segments of the four PSPMTs were acquired grouping them into 16 elements. An event by event analysis was performed and a positon resolution of the order of 2 cm was found. It was verified that this allows an important reduction of the Doppler broadening induced by relativistic beams in Nuclear Physics experiments.