Describe the working principle of Ionization Chamber

What is ionization Chamber

The ionization chamber is a gas-filled radiation detector, and is widely used for the detection and
measurement of nuclear particles and certain types of ionizing radiation; X-rays, γ rays,
and β particles. 
Ionization Chamber Principle
The term “ionization chamber” is used to describe those detectors that are based on the
principle of excitation or ionization of atoms of the medium through which the incident charged
particles pass. The charged particles while passing through matter leave along their paths a chain
of ionized or excited atoms which can be detected and counted
ionization chamber diagram

Most of the detectors measure the ionization produced by the passage of a charged particle
through a suitable material. When an electric field is maintained across the material, the ions will
be set in motion resulting in ionization current. 

Construction of ionization chamber

A simple ionization chamber consists of a metallic cylinder with a thin axial wire enclosed in a
glass envelope in which some inert gas is filled. A high potential difference is established
between the cylinder and the electrode (wire) as shown in the figure. Thus, wire acts as an anode
and cylinder as a cathode.  When a charged particle enters the active volume (i.e. gas) of the
chamber, it produces a large number of Ion pairs in the enclosed gas along its path,
Suppose n Ion pairs are produced in the chamber, then ne– electrons shall be attracted towards
the anode and ne+ positive ions shall be attracted towards the cathode.  Of course, ne+ shall
moves slowly because they are comparatively heavier than ne–. A total charge q = 2 ne will be
collected on the electrodes. The ionization chamber operates in the region of constant pulse size.
In this region, the applied voltage is high enough to prevent the recombination of ions and low
enough to prevent gas multiplication. The current signal or voltage pulse, therefore, developed
across R is proportional to the number of electrons collected by the electrode. The ionizing event
is thus recorded by the amplifier.  However, the amplifiers used are able to record pulses of small
magnitude only ( millivolt). 
Q# Describe neutron radiation sources
Spontaneous fission, induced fission, and (a, n) reactions are the primary sources of neutrons
observed in passive measurements. However, other reactions such as (y,n), (n,n’), and (n,2n)
may take place in the sample or detector assembly and contribute slightly to the observed count
rate.
1. Nuclear fission
The spontaneous fission of uranium, plutonium, or other heavy elements is an important source
of neutrons. The neutrons in nuclear reactors are generally categorized as slow (thermal)
neutrons or fast neutrons depending on their energy. Thermal neutrons are similar in energy
distribution (the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution) to a gas in thermodynamic equilibrium; but
are easily captured by atomic nuclei and are the primary means by which elements
undergo nuclear transmutation.
Example of (α ,n ¿ neutron sources
When alpha rays are incident on some nuclei of some elements and they transmuted into another
nuclei with emission of neutrons these are called (α ,n ¿ neutron sources.
α + 18O  21Ne + n
α + 19F  22Na + n
Photo neutron sources
Neutrons can also be produced when gamma rays interact in nuclei of certain elements . These
sources, often called photoneutron sources.
The (γ ,n)reaction can produce neutrons in any element if the gamma-ray energy is high enough.
The typical minimum threshold energy (-8 MeV) is much higher than the energies of gamma
rays emitted from radioactive nuclides. However, the (y,n) threshold energies for beryllium (1.66
MeV) and deuterium (2.22 MeV) are anomalously low. Thus, it is possible to create a photo
neutron source by surrounding relatively intense, long-lived, high-energy gamma-ray sources
such as 122Sbor 226Ra with a mantle of beryllium or D2O
Describe the process of X-rays production by bremsstrahlung
X-rays are produced by high-energy electrons bombarding a target, especially targets that have a
high proton number (Z). When bombarding electrons penetrate into the target, some electrons
travel close to the nucleus due to the attraction of its positive charge and are subsequently
influenced by its electric field. The course of these electrons would be deflected, and a portion or
all of their kinetic energy would be lost. The principle of the conservation of energy states that in
producing the X-ray photon, the electron has lost some of its kinetic energy (KE):

 final KE of electron = initial KE of electron - energy of X-ray photon

 Energy of X-ray = Initial KE of electron – Final KE of electron
The 'lost' energy is emitted as X-ray photons, specifically bremsstrahlung radiation
(bremsstrahlung is German for 'braking radiation'). Bremsstrahlung can have any energy ranging
from zero to the maximum KE of the bombarding electrons (i.e., 0 to Emax), depending on how
much the electrons are influenced by the electric field, therefore forming a continuous spectrum.
The 'peak' of the spectrum typically occurs at approximately one-third of Emax so for a
bremsstrahlung spectra with an Emax value of say 120 keV, the peak of the spectrum would be
at approximately 40 keV.

The intensity of bremsstrahlung radiation is proportional to the square of the atomic number of
the target (Z), the number of unit charges of the bombarding particle (z) and inversely with the
mass of the bombarding particle (m): Z² z / m. It follows that light particles such as electrons and
positrons bombarding targets of high atomic number are more efficient producers of
bremsstrahlung radiation than heavier particles such as alpha particles or neutrons (which can
also cause X-rays to be produced through bremsstrahlung, though it's much more unlikely than
Energy resolution

The energy resolution of a radiation detection system is a most important property when radiation
spectroscopy is intended. Consider a pulse height spectra from two detection systems for the same
radiation source. When a mono energetic source is measured and each system produces the
corresponding response of a simple peak, the system with a good resolution gives a narrower peak
width, which is beneficial for separating closely located peaks. In an ideal case, a delta function type
resolution would be the best case, however, a real radiation spectroscopy system always produces a
finite energy width in the peak shape. The energy resolution depends on the type of the detector and
the configuration of the noise filtering in pulse processing.

Detection efficiency

Detection efficiency is another important property of a radiation detector. As the general meaning
implies, detection efficiency represents the probability of detection for a single radiation quantum

An ideal radiation detection system should have a high efficiency and a good energy resolution, which is
hardly met in practical applications. Therefore, when you plan to set up a radiation detection system,
the detector type and material should be carefully chosen according to the priority of the measurement.
A compromise is usually unavoidable. In general, detection efficiency is dependent on both radiation
interaction and size of a detector. Charged particles (electron, proton, alpha) interact more easily than
neutral ones (X-ray, gammaray, neutron) and give high efficiencies.

Dead Time

Typical pulse processing systems for radiation detectors are shown in Fig. 2.4. The first one is for
radiation spectroscopy while the second is a simple counting system with a Geiger-Müller (GM) gas
detector. In the first case, radiation is incident on the detector, where charge is created. A voltage pulse
is passed to the amplifier where it is shaped and amplified. The pulse is then passed to the MultiChannel
Anaylzer (MCA) where its height is digitized. All of these processes take time. While one pulse is being
processed, another event cannot be. The time this takes is called the dead time.

The dead time of a system is the summation of all the processing times of the different components -
detector, amplifier, MCA. In the laboratory, you will measure the dead time in a GM tube. This is a very
simple system, as shown above, and essentially you will be looking at the dead time of the GM detector
itself; the time that the GM tube needs to process a pulse. If dead time losses are not accounted for, this
can lead to misleading results e.g. source activities will be underestimated. There are two models for
dead time behavior: paralyzable (or extending) and non-paralyzable (or non-extending). These are
idealized responses that predict extreme behaviour. True systems, being a combination of components,
will often be somewhere between the two models
Interaction of charge particle with matter