The Theory and Practice of Scintillation Counting
International Series of Monographs in Electronics and Instrumentation
Published on 22. October 2013
684 pages
978-1-4831-5606-4 (ISBN)
Description
The Theory and Practice of Scintillation Counting is a comprehensive account of the theory and practice of scintillation counting. This text covers the study of the scintillation process, which is concerned with the interactions of radiation and matter; the design of the scintillation counter; and the wide range of applications of scintillation counters in pure and applied science. The book is easy to read despite the complex nature of the subject it attempts to discuss. It is organized such that the first five chapters illustrate the fundamental concepts of scintillation counting. Chapters 6 to 10 detail the properties and applications of organic scintillators, while the next four chapters discuss inorganic scintillators. The last two chapters provide a review of some outstanding problems and a postscript. Nuclear physicists, radiation technologists, and postgraduate students of nuclear physics will find the book a good reference material.
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Content
PrefaceAcknowledgmentsChapter 1. Introduction 1.1. The Detection of Atomic and Nuclear Radiations 1.1.1. Dosimeters 1.1.2. Track Visualization Instruments 1.1.3. Counters 1.1.4. Applications of Counters 1.2. Early History of the Scintillation Counter 1.2.1. Visual Scintillation Counters 1.2.2. Geiger Scintillation Counters 1.2.3. Photomultiplier Scintillation Counters 1.3. Principles of the Scintillation Counter 1.4. General Bibliography 1.5. ReferencesChapter 2. Absorption of the Incident Radiation 2.1. Nature of the Radiations 2.2. Heavy Charged Particles 2.3. Electrons 2.4. Electromagnetic Radiations 2.4.1. The Compton Effect 2.4.2. The Photo-electric Effect 2.4.3. Pair Production 2.4.4. Multiple Processes 2.5. Neutrons 2.5.1. Scattering 2.5.2. Absorption 2.6. ReferencesChapter 3. The Scintillation Process in Organic Materials-I 3.1. The Electronic Structure of Organic Molecules 3.2. Excited States of p-Electron Systems 3.2.1. Classification on Free-electron Model 3.2.2. Absorption Spectra 3.3. Luminescence 3.3.1. Fluorescence 3.3.2. Phosphorescence and Delayed Fluorescence 3.3.3. Dimers 3.4. Classification of Organic Scintillators 3.5. Outline of Scintillation Phenomena 3.6. The Scintillation Mechanism 3.7. The Primary Processes 3.7.1. Excitation and Ionization 3.7.2. Primary Excitation Energy 3.7.3. Internal Conversion 3.8. Fluorescence of Unitary Systems 3.8.1. De-excitation Processes 3.8.2. Thin Crystals 3.8.3. Thick Crystals 3.9. Energy Transfer and Fluorescence in Binary Systems 3.10. Energy Transfer and Fluorescence in Ternary Systems 3.11. The Absolute Scintillation Efficiency 3.12. ReferencesChapter 4. The Scintillation Process in Inorganic Crystals-I 4.1. Introduction 4.2. The Energy Band Model 4.2.1. Perfect Crystals 4.2.2. Imperfect Crystals 4.3. Conditions for Luminescence of a Center 4.4. Classification of Inorganic Phosphors and Scintillators 4.4.1. Phosphors 4.4.2. Scintillators 4.5. Outline of Scintillation Phenomena 4.6. Optical Properties of Alkali Halide Crystals 4.6.1. General 4.6.2. Absorption Spectra 4.6.3. Luminescence Spectra 4.7. Optical Properties of Thallium Activator Centers 4.7.1. Absorption Spectra 4.7.2. Luminescence Spectra 4.7.3. Theoretical Model 4.7.4. Photoluminescence Decay Times 4.8. The Scintillation Mechanism 4.8.1. Sequence of Processes 4.8.2. The Absolute Scintillation Efficiency 4.9. ReferencesChapter 5. The Detection of Scintillations 5.1. Light Collection 5.1.1. Self-absorption in the Scintillator 5.1.2. Light Trapping 5.1.3. Reflectors 5.1.4. NaI(Tl) Crystal Assemblies 5.1.5. Light Guides and Couplers 5.2. Spectral Response 5.2.1. Spectral Matching 5.2.2. Factors Determining Cathode Spectral Response 5.2.3. Specification of Cathode Response and Sensitivity 5.2.4. Types of Photocathode 5.3. Photomultipliers 5.3.1. Dynode Structures 5.3.2. Cathode-First Dynode Structures 5.3.3. Uniformity of Photocathode Response 5.3.4. Gain 5.3.5. High Tension Supply 5.3.6. The Anode 5.3.7. Feedback and Satellite Pulses 5.3.8. Other Background Effects 5.3.9. Fatigue 5.3.10. Magnetic Field Effects 5.3.11. Dark Noise 5.3.12. Reduction of Effect of Dark Noise 5.3.13. Temperature Dependence of Sensitivity and Response 5.3.14. Commercial Photomultipliers 5.4. Pulse Amplitude Resolution 5.4.1.
