Introduction:

A Geiger counter (Geiger-Muller tube) is a device used for the

detection and measurement of all types of radiation: alpha, beta and
gamma radiation. Geiger-Mller (GM) counters were invented by H.
Geiger and E.W. Mller in 1928 .A typical GM Counter consists of a GM
tube having a thin end window (e.g. made of mica), a high voltage
supply for the tube, a scalar to record the number of particles detected
by the tube, and a timer which will stop the action of the scalar at the
end of a preset interval. The G.M Counter is widely used due to its
cheap price and compact size.
We are working with G.M counter in order to determine following
objectives:
1. To determine the plateau and optimal operating voltage of a GeigerMller counter.
2. To determine the resolving time of a GM counter.

THEORY:

All nuclear radiations, whether they are charged particles or gamma

rays, it will ionize atoms/molecules while passing through a gaseous
medium. This ionizing property of a nuclear radiation is utilized for its
detection. In essence, G.M counter consists of a pair of electrodes
surrounded by a gas. The electrodes have a high voltage across them.
The gas used is usually Helium or Argon. When radiation enters the tube
it can ionize the gas. The ions (and electrons) are attracted to the
electrodes and an electric current is produced. A scaler counts the
current pulses, and one obtains a count whenever radiation ionizes
the gas.
To study the theory in detail, we must study frst our instrument in

detail.
Instrument:
It consists of a glass cylinder with metallic coating (M) with a thin wire
(mostly tungsten) mounted along its axis. The wire is insulated from the
tube using a ceramic feed-through .The central wire (anode) A is kept at
a positive potential of a few hundreds of volt or more with respect to
metallic tube which is grounded. The tube is flled with argon gas mixed
with halogens at reduced pressure of about 10 cm of mercury. The tube
may have a very thin mica window shielded by some protective gauze.
Potential diference between A and M should be greater than certain
threshold value but not very large to create a continuous discharge of
current through the gas. A RC circuit is connected in parllel to the anode
which is further connected to a scalar whichis used in counting the
pulses.
Working:
When an ionizing radiation or particle enters the Geiger tube some of
the energy of the radiation or particle may get transferred to a gas
molecule within the tube. This absorption of this energy results in
ionization, producing an electron-ion pair (primary ions). The liberated
electrons move towards the central wire and positive ions towards the
negatively charged cylinder. The electrons now cause further ionization
by virtue of the acceleration due to the intense electric feld. These
secondary ions may produce other ions and these in turn still other ions
before reaching the electrodes. This cascading efect produces an
avalanche of ions and is known as townsend discharge. In an avalanche
created by a single original electron many excited gas molecules are
formed by electron collisions in addition to secondary ions. In a very
short time of few nanoseconds these excited molecules return to
ground state through emission of photons in the visible or ultraviolet
region. These photons are the key element in the propagation of the
chain reaction that makes up the Geiger discharge. If one of these
photons interacts by photoelectric absorption in some other region of
the tube a new electron is liberated creating an avalanche at a diferent
location in the tube. The arrival of these avalanches at the anode
causes a drop in the potential between the central wire and the
cylinder. This process gives rise to a very large pulse with an amplitude
independent of the type and energy of the incident radiation. The pulse

is communicated to the amplifer through an appropriate RC circuit, and

then to a counter which is called as scaler. Suitable arrangements are
made to measure the counts for a preset time interval.
Dead Time (Resolving time):
After a count has been recorded, it takes the G-M tube a certain
amount of time to reset itself to be ready to record the next count. This
time interval in which our instrument is not recording is called the dead
time.Because of the random nature of radioactive decay, there is
always some probability that a true event will be lost because it occurs
too quickly following a preceding event.
There will always be some dead time in any instrument that we use,
the physical reason behind the existence of this delay is that whenever
an atom is ionnized we are left with electorns and the positive kernel.
Electrons being light and having high mobility reach the positive
terminal very quickly but the positive kernel is not very mobile and it
takes some time for it to reach the negative terminal. Moreover, most
ionization occurs near the central axis of the tube where the feld is high
and hence positive kernels have to travel larger distance than electrons.
As they move the form a sheath of positive charge around the central
wire hence reducing the feld intensity. A particle entering the tube in
this tube will hence be unable to perform a avalanche which means
their will either be no pulse or will be of very low intensity. Along with
that electronics involved with the scalar will also add sometime lag .
Hence, some the radiation which occur during the dead time will go
undetected.

Operating Voltage :
When we starting measuring counts using G.M counter we observe that.
For low voltages, no counts are recorded. This is because the electric
feld is too weak for even one pulse to be recorded. As the voltage is
increased, eventually one obtains a counting rate. The voltage at which
the G-M tube just begins to count is called the starting potential. The
counting rate quickly rises as the voltage is increased. After the quick
rise, the counting rate levels of. This range of voltages is termed the
plateau region. Eventually, the voltage becomes too high and we
have continuous discharge. The threshold voltage (V 1) is the voltage
where the plateau region begins. Proper operation is when the voltage
is in the plateau region of the curve . Let the voltage at which the
continous dischage occur be V2 then the proper voltage or operating
voltage is given by:
= V1 + (1/3)(V2-V1)
Quenching:
When the positive charge layer (formed after ionization of gas)
reaches may eject some electrons which can produce another

avalanche( as the feld has againn reached its full value). So, we need
some mechanism to stop Clearly some means are needed by which

the discharges is permanently stopped or quenched. Without

quenching, a GM tube would undergo repetitive discharging.
There are two general methods of quenching the discharge.
External Quenching: In external quenching, the operating
voltage of the counter is decreased,after the start of the
discharge until the ions reach the cathode, to a value for which
the gas multiplication factor is negligible. The decrease is
achieved by a properly chosen RC circuit. The resistance R (10
ohms or more) is so high that the voltage drop across it due to
the current generated by the discharge reduces the voltage of
the counter below the threshold needed for the discharge to
start (Vo- idR). The time constant RC is much longer than the
time needed for the collection of the ions. As a result the counter
isinoperative for an unacceptably long period of time. In other
words, its dead time is too long.
Internal quenching: The internal quenching method is
accompanied by adding to the main gas of the counter a small
amount of a polyatomic organic gas or a halogen gas. These have
relatively large molecules, which tend to absorb the fluorescent
emissions of the noble-gas atoms. They also have smaller
excitation potentials than the latter, so their de-excitation
photons have insufficient energy to ionize the gas and propagat
e the discharge further. For satisfactory photon quenching, the
absorption spectrum of the quenching agent should match the
emission spectrum of the noble gas. Methane and ethanol both
satisfy these requirements. Quenching agents with lower
ionization potentials than the noble gas atoms tend to lose
electrons in collisions with these ions, becoming positive ions
themselves. Being heavier than the original ions, they appr
oach the cathode more slowly, drawing electrons out by field
emission. These cancel the ion and dissociate the molecule,
dispersing energy without recycling the tube.
GM counters using an organic gas as quenching agent have a
finite lifetime because of the dissociation of the organic
molecules.The lifetime of a GM detector increases considerably

if a halogen gas is used as the quenching agent. The halogen

molecules also dissociate during the quenching process but
there is a certain degree of degeneration of the molecules
which greatly extends the useful lifetime of the counter
Applications:
Advantages:
1. They are relatively inexpensive .
2. They are durable and easily portable .
3. They can detect all types of radiation .
Disadvantages:
1. They cannot diferentiate which type of radiation is being detected .
2. They cannot be used to determine the exact energy of the detected
radiation .
3. They have a very low efciency .