Physics Lectures on Radiation Detectors

Resident Physics Lectures
Radiation Detectors
Prof. J. K Tonui, PhD
School of Medicine,
Department of Radiology & Imaging
Learning Objectives
At the end of this lecture, the student should be
able to:
 Describe the need for radiation detection.
 Describe the characteristics of radiation detectors.
 State types of radiation detectors and their basic
operation principle.
 Describe general the structure and operation of
GFRD.
 Describe the operation of film-badge dosimeters.
2 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

Introduction
Radiation
 Cannot be seen, smelt nor tasted, hence
 We depend on the instruments to indicate the
presence of ionizing radiation, and

 These instruments are based on the ability of
radiation to interact (collide) with matter, where

 Radiation ionize matter and produce ions, which
 Are exploited in radiation detection by using
gases.

Why Detect Radiation?
There are several reasons for radiation
detection:
 Environmental safety;
 Personal protection of occupational workers;
 Calibration of radioactive isotopes;
 Research applications;
 Estimation of radiation dose in treatment of
patients.

Characteristics of detectors
Some characteristics of radiation detectors
include:
 Sensitivity;
 Operating voltage;
 Operating voltage region;
 Radiation detection range;
 Resolution (for pulsed based);
 Less dead time, and
 Life time.

Types of Radiation
Detectors
 Three main types of radiation detectors:
 Gas-filled radiation detectors (GFRD)
o consist of a volume of gas between two electrodes
 Scintillation detectors,
o the interaction of ionizing radiation produces UV and/or
visible light
 Semiconductor detectors
o consists of electronic devices (diodes) made from
extrinsic (doped) semiconductor crystals (e.g. Si, Ge or

other compounds materials)

Types of Radiation Detectors
 Detectors may also be classified by the type of information
produced:
 Counters
o Detectors that indicate the number of interactions occurring in
the detector, e.g. Geiger-Mueller (GM) detectors.

 Spectrometers
o Detectors that give information about the energy distribution of
the incident radiation, e.g. NaI scintillation detectors.

 Dosimeters
o Detectors that indicate the net amount of energy deposited in
the detector by multiple interactions, e.g. film badges and TLD .

Types of Radiation Detectors

Gas-Filled Radiation
Detectors
Gas-Filled Radiation Detectors (GFRDs)
 Are the oldest type of radiation detectors but are
still in use today, and

 Measure ionization (ion pairs – electrons and +ve
ions) that radiation produce on a gas confined in a

container, and
 Come in various forms differing only in their
construction details and on how ion pairs are

measured.

GFRDs
Any type of GFRD
 Consists of a volume of gas kept in a sealed
container called ionization chamber and

 Two electrodes, called cathode and anode, are
placed inside this chamber, and

 An electric voltage is applied between these
electrodes, and
 Are used to detect the gas ions produced in the
chamber.

GFRDs
Fig. shows schematic
diagram of IC detector,
where
 The cathode is usually the
wall of the container that

holds the gas and
 The anode is a filamentary
wire placed at the axis of

the container.

GFRDs
Radiation (x- and  rays)
 Interact with gas atoms/molecules thro’ either PE or
CS, where
They impact their energy to gas atoms and strip
them of their electrons or ionize the gas, and

In the processes produces ion pairs:
o Positive ions (Cations), and
o Electrons (anions)

Mode of Detection Radiation
Operation of a GFRD depends on
 Detection of ion pairs produced in the gas chamber,
which
 Is done electrically by using two oppositely charged
electrodes as shown in this Fig.

The dc voltage applied on the two electrodes
 Sets an electric field between the +ve and –ve
electrodes, and
 The cations are attracted to –ve electrode while
anions are attracted to +ve electrode, hence

separated, and
 Is allowed to flow in an external circuit producing a
current that can be measured as shown more

elaborately in the Fig. in next slide.

 Fig.
 Shows more elaborate detection process in GFRD, where
 A filamentary wire (anode) in the axis of cylindrical chamber
(cathode);
 A variable voltage battery is used and current flowing in external
circuit is converted to voltage for ease of amplification and value

of Vdc determined types of GFRD.

Gas used in GFRDs
An inert gas is always used
 Usually argon gas or xenon gas, in order to
 To prevent chemical reaction from taking place
when the gas is ionized so that the

characteristic of the detector is not altered.
The chamber holding the gas
 Is sealed and has transparent window to let
radiation into the chamber.

Modes of Operation
 GFRD can be operated in two modes:
 Pulse mode,
o Where the electrical signal (voltage) from each
interaction is processed individually, and displayed.

 Current mode,
o Where the electrical signals from individual
interactions are averaged together to give a net

current signal that is converted to voltage signal,
which
o Is then given in terms of pulse height

Display Systems in GFRDs
Display methods for GFRDs include:
 A loud speaker
o Clicks when radiation photon is detected, and
used in survey meters.
 A ratemeter or pulse counter
o Displays No. of voltage pulses per second
generated i.e. count rate, and

o Used to quantify strength of radioactive sources –
more radiation  more pulses produced.

Types of GFRDs
 GFRDs are classified
according to Vdc used,

 The output voltage
(measured in terms of
Voltage Pulse
Height) of a GFRD at
various DC voltages is
shown in figure beside.

Types of GFRDs
Types of GFRDs are
named as follows:
 R – recombination
I - ionization
Chamber
 P – proportional counter
 GM – Geiger-Muller Tube
 CD – complete discharge

Region A: Recombination
Region, R
 In this region,
 Vdc is relatively low (few volts above zero), which
 Produce weak E-field, hence
 Charges are not separated apart appreciably, hence
 The ion pairs simply recombine leaving only a few
charges to reach electrodes, which

 Results in low voltage pulse height but does
increase as dc voltage increases as amount of

recombination reduces.

Region B: Ionization
region, I
In this region,
 Vdc is sufficiently high, hence
 Negligible amount of recombination occurs, and
 Is called ionization region because all the gases
in the chamber are ionized, and

 The detector that operates in this region is
called Ionization Chamber (IC).

Region C: Proportional Region,
P
 In this region,
 Vdc is sufficiently high, and
 Electrons approaching centre or anode wire attain sufficient
energy to dislodge new ion pairs from gas atoms they

collide with, hence
 The number of electrons increases, resulting to higher
current thro’ resistor, R, by a factor of 1000-times the

initial current by the radiation interaction, and
 The detector operating in this region is called Proportional
Counter.
Counter

Region D: Geiger-Müller (GM)
Region
In this region,
 Vdc is very high, so that
 Weakly -ionizing particle will produce a very large voltage
pulse, and
 Detector operating in this region is called Geiger-Müller
(GM) tube
Initial ionization produced by the radiation
 Triggers a complete gas breakdown as an avalanche of
electrons head towards and spreads along the center wire.

Region E: Complete Discharge
Region, CD
In this region,
Vdc is high enough, such that
The gas undergo complete breakdown
and
It cannot be used to detect radiation,
because the gas will glow and produce

light like neon sign lamps.
Categories of Radiation
Detectors
 Detectors can be divided into two major categories:
 Imaging detectors,
o e.g. photographic plates and X-ray film, but have now been
replaced by various digitizing devices like image plates or flat

panel detectors, and
 Dose measurement devices
o e.g. ionization chamber, Geiger counters, and
 Dosimeters used to measure the local radiation
exposure, dose, and/or dose rate,

o e.g. verifying that radiation protection equipment and
procedures are effective on an ongoing basis.

Imaging Detectors
Imaging detector
 Are used in radiology mainly for capturing the
images for diagnosis and for personal

dosimeters (usually referred as film badge),
and
 Consists mainly of x-films but are being
replaced gradually by various digital systems

such as image plates or flat-panel detectors.

Photographic Detectors
The film badge
Consists of strips of different
materials (e.g. Al, Cd and Pb)

placed within the badge but in front
of the film, and
These strips attenuate the incoming
radiation differently and reduce the

degree of exposure of the film
located behind them.

 The film badge
 Is a detector used to measure
cumulative exposure received by

personnel working with radiology
facilities and
 Is shown schematically in Fig.
beside, and
 Is simply a plastic holder containing
a photographic film that is sensitive

to radiation used in radiology.

The amount of attenuation is dependent on
the
 Type (, , , or x-ray) and energy of radiation,
 Density of the absorber.
Type and energy of radiation
 Is determined by comparing the amount of
exposure of film behind each strip, together

with the fourth uncovered area.

Film Badge Personal
Dosimeters
Note that
 The film badge must
be sent to an outside
laboratory for reading
and interpretation,
hence
 Is not like the pen
dosimeter, which can

be read by the user.

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Resident Physics Lectures

 Describe the characteristics of radiation detectors.

 State types of radiation detectors and their basic

2 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

 We depend on the instruments to indicate the

presence of ionizing radiation, and

radiation to interact (collide) with matter, where

 Are exploited in radiation detection by using

3 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

 Personal protection of occupational workers;

 Calibration of radioactive isotopes;

 Estimation of radiation dose in treatment of

4 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

 Operating voltage region;

 Radiation detection range;

 Resolution (for pulsed based);

 Less dead time, and

5 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

 Gas-filled radiation detectors (GFRD)

o consist of a volume of gas between two electrodes

o the interaction of ionizing radiation produces UV and/or

o consists of electronic devices (diodes) made from

extrinsic (doped) semiconductor crystals (e.g. Si, Ge or

6 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

the detector, e.g. Geiger-Mueller (GM) detectors.

the incident radiation, e.g. NaI scintillation detectors.

the detector by multiple interactions, e.g. film badges and TLD .

7 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

8 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

 Are the oldest type of radiation detectors but are

still in use today, and

ions) that radiation produce on a gas confined in a

construction details and on how ion pairs are

9 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

 Consists of a volume of gas kept in a sealed

container called ionization chamber and

placed inside this chamber, and

10 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

wall of the container that

wire placed at the axis of

11 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

 Interact with gas atoms/molecules thro’ either PE or

them of their electrons or ionize the gas, and

12 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

 Detection of ion pairs produced in the gas chamber,

electrodes as shown in this Fig.

13 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

 Sets an electric field between the +ve and –ve

anions are attracted to +ve electrode, hence

current that can be measured as shown more

14 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

 Shows more elaborate detection process in GFRD, where

 A filamentary wire (anode) in the axis of cylindrical chamber

circuit is converted to voltage for ease of amplification and value

15 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017

 Usually argon gas or xenon gas, in order to

 To prevent chemical reaction from taking place

when the gas is ionized so that the

The chamber holding the gas

 Is sealed and has transparent window to let

radiation into the chamber.

16 RIB 810, 811, & 812 Imaging Physics 6/14/2017