Monte Carlo simulation of background characteristics of a HPGe detector operating underground in the Gran Sasso National Laboratory.

Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of background components of an ultra-low background high purity germanium (HPGe) detector operating in a deep underground laboratory was carried out. The results show that the background of the HPGe detector is about two orders of magnitude higher than the MC prediction when accounting only for cosmic-ray induced background. The difference is due to natural radioactivity in the parts surrounding the Ge detector. To get reasonable agreement between MC simulations and the experiment, a contamination in the parts surrounding the Ge crystal from 40K, 208Tl and 214Bi of 0.1mBqkg-1 was required to include in the simulations.