Page 208 - Radiochemistry and nuclear chemistry

CHAPTER 8

Detection and Measurement Techniques

Contents

8.1. Track measurements 193
8.1.1. Cloud and bubble chambers 193
8.1.2. Solid state nuclear track detectors 194
8.2. General properties of detectors 198
8.2.1. Pulse generation 199
8.2.2. Basic counting systems 201
8.2.3. Pulse shape and dead time 202
8.3. Gas counters 204
8.3.1. Ion chambers 206
8.3.2. Proportional counters 208
8.3.3. Geiger-Miiller counters 210
8.4. Semiconductor detectors 212
8.4.1. Surface barrier detectors 214
8.4.2. Lithium-drifted detectors 215
8.4.3. Intrinsic detectors 217
8.5. Scintillation detectors 218
8.5.1. Gas scintillator detectors 220
8.5.2. Liquid scintillator detectors 221
8.5.3. Solid scintillator detectors 221
8.6. (~erenkov detectors 222
8.7. Electronics for pulse counting 223
8.7.1. Preamplifiers 223
8.7.2. Amplifiers 224
8.7.3. Single channel analyzers 225
8.7.4. Counters and rate meters 225
8.7.5. Multicharmel analyzers 226
8.7.6. "y-spectrometry 226
8.8. Special counting systems 229
8.9. Absolute disintegration rates 231
8.10. Sample preparation 233
8.11. Statistics of counting and associated error 233
8.12. Exercises 237
8.13. Literature 237

Although animals have no known senses for detection of nuclear radiation, it has been
found that sublethal but large radiation fields can affect animals in various ways such as
disturbing the sleep of dogs or causing ants to follow a new pathway to avoid a hidden
radiation source. Apollo astronauts observed scintillations in their eyes when their space

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