Gamma-rays can transfer energy to the detector system through Compton scattering in the walls or fill gas. Most materials emit 10+ times as many γ-rays as neutrons, so γ-ray sensitivity is an important criterion in instrument selection.

There are four factors to consider when choosing an instrument:

1. the presence of gamma-ray shielding
2. the thermals/γ signal ratio is generally much higher than fast/γ
3. in some detectors, neutrons deposit more energy than γ-rays do, and e-ranges are typically much longer than charged particle ranges
4. charge collection speeds for neutrons and γ-rays may be different

Below we can see the n and γ-ray interaction probabilities for typical detectors:

The following chart shows n and γ-ray deposition in typical detectors: