Week 7 Lecture 1:

Radiation
Detectors
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https://www.iaea.org/resources/nucleus-information-resources
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
Overview

This session will compare the various types of

detector systems and their specifications for the
intended tasks.
 Types of Radiation

 Charged Particle Radiation
 Electrons
 β particles Can be easily
 Heavy Charged Particles stopped/shielded!
 α particles
 Fission Products
 Particle Accelerators

 Uncharged Radiation
 Electromagnetic Radiation
 γ-rays
 x-rays
 Neutrons More difficult to
 Fission, Fusion reactions shield against!
 Photoneutrons

Radiation and their charges
 Penetration Distances for Different
Forms of Radiation


α’s

β’s

γ’s

n’s

Paper Plastic Lead Concrete

(few cm) (few in) (few feet)
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
Detector systems
The types of detector systems are:
1. Gas-filled detectors
2. Scintillation Detectors
3. Solid state detectors
4. Semiconductor Detectors
5. Neutron Detectors

Detection systems are designed to be used for the following tasks :

1. Area Radiation surveys in the working environment
2. Contamination monitoring
3. Individual monitoring
4. Emergency exposure situation
5. Radiotherapy level measurements
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
Why is Radiation Detection Difficult?

 Can’t see it

 Can’t smell it

 Can’t hear it

 Can’t feel it

 Can’t taste it

 We take advantage of the fact that radiation produces

ionized pairs to try to create an electrical signal



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Ideal Properties for Detection of
Radioactivity
Radiation Ideal Detector Properties
α Very thin/no window or
ability to put source inside
detector
β Same as above, can be low or
high density, gas, liquid, or
solid
γ High density, high atomic
number materials
neutrons Low atomic number materials,
preferably hydrogenous
 How a Radiation Detector Works


 The radiation we are interested in detecting all interact

with materials by ionizing atoms
 While it is difficult (sometime impossible) to directly detect
radiation, it is relatively easy to detect (measure) the
ionization of atoms in the detector material.
 Measure the amount of charge created in a detector
 electron-ion pairs, electron-hole pairs

 Use ionization products to cause a secondary reaction

 use free, energized electrons to produce light photons
 Scintillators

 We can measure or detect these interactions in many different

ways to get a multitude of information
 
General Detector Properties
 Characteristics of an “ideal” radiation detector
 High probability that radiation will interact with the detector material
 Large amount of charge created in the interaction process
 average energy required for creation of ionization pair (W)

 Charge must be separated an collected by electrodes

 Opposite charges attract, “recombination” must be avoided

 Initial Generated charge in detector (Q) is very small (e.g., 10-13C)

 Signal in detector must be amplified
 Internal Amplification (multiplication in detector)
 External Amplification (electronics)
Q
 Want to maximize V V=
C

Types of Radiation Detectors
 A. Gas Detectors
 Ionization Chambers
 Proportional Counters
 Geiger-Mueller Tubes (Geiger Counters)

 B. Scintillation Detectors
 Inorganic Scintillators
 Organic Scintillators

 C. Semiconductor Detectors
 Silicon
 High Purity Germanium
 A.

Gas Detectors

 Most common form of radiation detector

 Relatively simple construction
 Suspended wire or electrode plates in a container
 Can be made in very large volumes (m3)

 Mainly used to detect β-particles and neutrons

 Ease of use
 Mainly used for counting purposes only
 High value for W (20-40 eV / ion pair)
 Can give you some energy information

 Inert fill gases (Ar, Xe, He)

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 Gas Detectors Modes of operation

 Ionization mode
 Full charge collection but no amplification (gain=1)
 Generally used for gamma exposure and large fluxes

 Proportional mode
 Ionization avalanche produces an amplified signal
proportional to the original ionization (gain = 103—105)
 Allows measurement of dE/dx

 Geiger-Muller mode
 Massive photo-emission results in many avalanches
along the wire resulting in a saturated signal
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Gas Detectors
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 A.1
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Ionization Chambers
 Two electric plates
surrounded by a metal case
 Electric Field (E=V/D) is
applied across electrodes
 Electric Field is low
 only original ion pairs created
by radiation are collected
 Signal is very small

 Can get some energy

information
 Resolution is poor due to
statistics, electronic noise,
and microphonics
Recombination - Incomplete charge collection can result, as
charges have time to be trapped or recombine.

 Ionization Chamber in Medical Physics!
 A.2 Proportional Counters


In an ionization chamber, the voltage

between the electrodes is sufficient
only to collect those charges
liberated by direct action of the
ionizing radiation. In a proportional
counter, the voltage is increased to a
sufficiently high value such that the
electrons liberated by radiation gain
such high velocities and energies
that the cause additional ionization.

Used to detect alphas, betas,

and neutrons
  What is a Proportional Counter?

 Executive Summary:
 An X-ray interacts with an atom of the prop
counter gas. Photo-electric absorption is most
important (or only important) mechanism below
100 keV
 Charge is generated, proportional to the incident
X-ray energy; (i.e., electrons and positive ions
separated).
 The charge is multiplied in a high field region.
K. Jahoda, 6 Aug 2007 X-ray School, GWU

 The charge is collected, measured, digitized, and

telemetered.
 Examples of Proportional Counters

K. Jahoda, 6 Aug 2007 X-ray School, GWU

Output is “channel”, time, and possibly direction or polarization.

Collapsed over time yields a Pulse Height Spectrum. Example from
RXTE/PCA
K. Jahoda, 6 Aug 2007 X-ray School, GWU

Pulse Height spectrum includes background. Individual photons are

not identified as “signal” or “background”
 
Sources of Proportional Counter
Background
 From sky (I.e. through collimator)
 From particles
 Minimum ionizing particles deposit ~ 2keV/ mg per cm2
 Electrons with 10s of keV can penetrate window to deposit 1-10 keV
 Secondaries from spacecraft, detector itself

 From photons
K. Jahoda, 6 Aug 2007 X-ray School, GWU

 Forward Compton scattering of γ-rays

 Flouresence from collimator or other detector material
 Secondaries from Spacecraft or instrument
 Proportional
 Counter Basics

 Essential components:
 Window
 Defines low-end bandpass
 Absorption/drift volume
 Defines high end bandpass
 Multiplication region
 High field region
 Readout
K. Jahoda, 6 Aug 2007 X-ray School, GWU

 Electrodes may (or may not) be multiplication electrodes

 Essential Physics
 Photo-electric cross section
K. Jahoda, 6 Aug 2007 X-ray School, GWU
 Proportional
 Counter Basics

 Essential characteristics:
 Photo-electric absorption
 In a Gas
 Followed by relaxation of the ion and secondary ionization
 Amplification (see excellent talks by DAS, RJE in previous X-ray
schools)
 avalanche process in gas
K. Jahoda, 6 Aug 2007 X-ray School, GWU

 electronic processing

 Resulting charge signal is proportional to photon-energy (with

important exceptions)
 B.

Geiger Counters
 Apply a very large voltage across
the detector
 Generates a significantly higher
electric field than proportional
counters
 Multiplication near the anode wire
occurs
 Geiger Discharge

 Quench Gas

 Generated Signal is independent

of the energy deposited in the
detector
 Primarily Beta detection
 Most common form of detector
No energy information! Only
used to count / measure the
amount of radiation. Signal is
independent of type of
radiation as well!
 Examples of Geiger Counters

Geiger counters generally come in compact, hand carried

instruments. They can be easily operated with battery
power and are usually calibrated to give you radiation
dose measurements in rad/hr or rem/hr.
B. Scintillator Detectors
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 Voltage is not applied to these types of detectors

 Radiation interactions result in the creation of light photons
 Goal is to measure the amount of light created
 Light created is proportion to radiation energy

 To measure energy, need to convert light to electrical signal

 Photomultiplier tube
 Photodiode

 Two general types

 Organic } light → electrons
 Inorganic
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
Scintillators

 Two types
 Organic
 Crystal, liquid, plastic (most widely used in particle physics)

 Lower light output but faster

 Inorganic
 Crystal, glass

 Higher light output but slower

Organic Scintillators
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 Light is generated by fluorescence of molecules

 Organic - low atomic numbers, relatively low density
 Low detection efficiency for gamma-rays

 Low light yield (1000 photons/MeV) - poor signal

 Light response different for different types of radiation

 Light is created quickly

 Can be used in situations where speed (ns) is necessary

 Can be used in both solid and liquid form

 Liquid form for low energy, low activity beta monitoring, neutrino
detection
 Very large volumes (m3)
 Organic Scintillators Come in Many Forms
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Inorganic Scintillators
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 Generally, high atomic number and high density materials
 NaI, CsI, BiGeO, Lithium glasses, ZnS

 Light generated by electron transitions within the crystalline

structure of the detector
 Cannot be used in liquid form!

 High light yield (~60,000 photons / MeV)

 light yield in inorganics is slow (µs)

 Commonly used for gamma-ray spectroscopy

 W ~ 20 eV (resolution 5% for 1 MeV γ-ray)
 Neutron detection possible with some

 Can be made in very large volumes (100s of cm3)

 Inorganic Scintillators
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 C. Solid State (Semiconductor) Detectors
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 Radiation interactions yield electron-hole pairs

 analogous to ion pairs in gas detectors

 Very low W-value (1-5 eV)

 High resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy

 Energy resolution << 1% for 1 MeV gamma-rays

 Some types must be cooled using cryogenics

 Band structure is such that electrons can be excited at thermal temperatures

 Variety of materials

 Si, Ge, CdZnTe, HgI2, TlBr

 Sizes < 100 cm3 [some even less than 1 cm3]

 Efficiency issues for lower Z materials

NaI Scintillator

Ge Detector
Ideal Detector for Detection of Radiation
Radiation Ideal Detector
α Thin Semiconductor Detectors
Proportional Counters
β Organic Scintillators
Geiger Counters
Proportional Counters
γ Inorganic Scintillators
Thick Semiconductor Detectors
neutrons Plastic Scintillators
Proportional Counters (He, BF3)
Lithium Glass Scintillators