Pakistan Institute of Engineering & Applied Sciences (PIEAS)

Lectures on Radiation Detection Delivered in Professional Training Course at PNRA (April, 2008)

Dr. Nasir M Mirza Deputy Chief Scientist, Department of Physics & Applied mathematics, PIEAS, P.O. Nilore, 45650, Islamabad. Email: nmm@pieas.edu.pk Ph: +92 51 9290273 (ext: 3059)

General Properties of Radiation Detectors

Lecture One:

Recommended Text Books 1. Glenn F Knoll s Radiation Detection & Measurement (recent edition).

Simple Detector
It Must convert energy into charge via interaction of radiation with detector Heavy charged particle (fission fragment) or electrons (beta)Coulomb interactions create electron-ion (ionization) pairs if sufficient energy is transferred to orbital electrons Gamma rays-interact to transfer energy to electrons

Photoelectric effect
Compton Scattering Pair Production

Neutrons -no charge. Must convert neutron energy to a secondary particle that can create charge
Neutron capture and alpha emission.

Simplified Detector Model

Consider a hypothetical detector subjected to some type of radiation; To better understand the process, let us consider only a single particle or radiation quantum interaction; As stopping times are very small, so deposition of energy can be considered instantaneous (varying from nano-seconds to mili-seconds) Due to radiation interaction the output will be Q amount of charge produced within the detector. Radiation

Source

Shield

Detector

Simplified Detector Model

An electric field to collect the charge created is applied Collection time depends on detector

(Contd.)

Collection time shows the mobility and average distance covered (to be collected at electrodes) of the charge carriers Output of our detector current flowing for time equal to that of charge collection An obvious thing about the charge collected is

Q i (t )dt
0

tc

Simplified Detector Model

(Contd.)

i(t)

Q i(t )dt
0
tc
Time, t

tc

Simplified Detector Model

(Contd.)

If irradiation rate is high then overlapping of such pulses can take place In case of low irradiation rate, one pulse processed at a time (simplified case easy to understand) Magnitude and duration of each current pulse may vary depending upon type of interaction Time intervals between successive current pulses are also randomly distributed

Simplified Detector Model

(Contd.)

i(t)

Time, t

Simple Detector-radiation pulses

Current coming out of the detector must equal the total charge deposited by the radiation Pulses can vary depending on the type and energy of the radiation

Current pulse from detector is connected to preamplifier with characteristic resistance and capacitance

Modes of Detector Operation

Current Mode

Pulse Mode

Mean Square Voltage (MSV) Mode

Current Mode
For a fixed response time T and sequence of events, time dependent current will be t 1 I t I t dt T t T Normally T is greater as compared to average time between individual current pulses Larger T to minimize statistical fluctuations in the signal but slows the response

An average current is recorded which is given by

E I o rQ r q W

Current Mode
An average current is recorded which is given by:

(Contd.)

I o rQ r
Where, r event rate Q charge produced for each event

E q W

E= Average energy deposited per event W Average energy required to produce a unit charge pair (i.e. electron ion pair) q 1.6x10-19 C

Current Mode
Used for high count rate events

(Contd.)

Largely applied in the field of radiation dosimetery For steady state irradiation of detector, average current can also be written as the I = Io + i(t)

Here i(t) is a random time-dependent variable due to random nature of radiation events interacting in detector

Current Mode
Fractional standard deviation =
I

(Contd.)

t
Io

Fractional S.D in number of events (according to Poissons Statistics) =

n n rT n n rT
Comparing both fractional standard deviations gives

I t n Io n

Current Mode
Which simplifies to

(Contd.)

rQ r I t Q T rT rT

Io

(Eqn. A)

This result is useful in estimating the uncertainty associated with a given current mode measurement

Mean Square Voltage (MSV) Mode

MSV mode operations are based on fluctuations (SD) in current signal The mode is applicable in the mixed mode environment of radiation
In reactors where n and gamma-rays signals are discriminated

Average current is blocked whereas fluctuations in current are taken into account

MSV Mode
I(t)

(Contd.)

Io

Time, t

MSV Mode

(Contd.)

The output is the square of standard deviation Using Equation (A), we get

t
I

r 2 Q T

True application of MSV mode in mixed mode environment Simple current mode will equally weight mixed radiation MSV mode will square the charge produced by individual radiation MSV mode enhances relativly large amplitude and is mostly used in reactor instrumentation

Pulse Mode
Used when we need to preserve the information on amplitude and timing of individual event

Simplified circuit used for pulse mode operation is

Detector

V(t)

Pulse Mode
In the figure
R input resistance of current

(Contd.)

C equivalence capacitance (detector + measuring circuit)

V (t) time dependent voltage on which pulse mode operation is based

characterizes the frequency response of a first-order, linear time-invariant system.

= R C. It is the time required to charge the capacitor, through the resistor, to 63.2 (~ 63) percent of full charge; or to discharge it to 36.8 (~ 37) percent of its initial voltage.
Two extreme cases are discussed
RC << tc
RC >> tc

Pulse Mode
V(t)

(Contd.)

Case 1:

RC << tc V(t) = i(t)R

tc

Time, t

The Signal voltage V(t) for the case of small time constant load current.

Pulse Mode
V(t)

(Contd.)

Case 2:

RC >> tc
Vmax = Q/C

tc

Time, t

The Signal voltage V(t) for the case of large time constant load current.

Small RC (RC << tc)

Time constant of external circuit much smaller than charge collection time So Current flowing through R = instantaneous value of current flowing in the detector Shapes of voltage pulse and current are almost identical Detectors used in this mode for
High event rates

Timing information ( in case when timing info is more important then accurate energy information)

Large RC (RC >> tc)

Charge is accumulated on capacitor and during charge collection time very little current flows in the load resister If there is sufficient time between pulses, capacitor will discharge through resistance and voltage across load drops to zero Here the pulse formation time consists of two parts
Time for pulse to reach maximum Time for signal voltage to restored to zero

Large RC (RC >> tc)

(Contd.)

The time to reach the maximum is characterized by the detector (means charge collection time)

The trailing edge is circuit dependent as time to drop the signal voltage to zero depends on time constant of circuit
Q = CVmax OR Vmax = Q/C

Q is total charge created within the detector by one radiation interaction

C is a fixed quantity so the amplitude of the signal is a measure of charge generated within a detector by incident radiation

Large RC (RC >> tc) So the output of pulse mode operation

(Contd.)

Consists of sequence of individual signal pulses i.e. individual interaction of pulses

Pulse occurrence rate can be measured

Pulse amplitude is measured

Advantages of Pulse Mode Operation Pulse mode is the most common choice of radiation detector operation because:
Its Sensitivity is much larger than Current or MSV mode as each single quantum of energy is detected separately; Pulse amplitude carries information of energy and charge; hence spectroscopy is possible; However in MSV mode this amplitude is averaged over time so information about energy is lost.

Pulse Collection
RC=time constant for pre-amplifier tc=charge collection time in detector

RC<<tc Circuit responds fast compared to charge collection time. Voltage across circuit looks like pulse from detector RC>>tc Circuit responds slow compared to charge collection time. Little current flow in circuit as charge collects. Amplitude of signal pulse proportional to charge created.