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Room # A114,
Department of Physics & Applied mathematics, PIEAS, P.O. Nilore, 45650, Islamabad.
Email: nmm@pieas.edu.pk
Ph: 092 51 9290273 (ext: 3059)
Scintillation Detector
Lecture One:
Scintillation Detector
By: Office: Office Phone: Email: Dr. Nasir M Mirza Block A (Room Number, A -144) extension, 3059 nmm@pieas.edu.pk
Scintillation Scintillation
Flash of light (Visible)
From radiation detection point of view---flash of light produced from excited atoms as a result of radiation interaction
Luminescence
Usually occurs at low temperatures and is thus a form of cold body radiation.
Scintillation Scintillation
Detection of ionization radiation by scintillation light produced in a material is one of the oldest technique on record (for example ZnS screens were used initially as detectors);
Common scintillation materials include NaI(Tl), CsI(Tl), CsI(Na), Li(Eu), ZnS, Ca2F, BaF2, glassScintillators, and plastic Scintillators;
Scintillation
(Contd.)
Rutherford experiments (alpha particle scattering) used zinc sulphide crystals as the primary detector of radiation Used his eye to see the flickers when alpha struck zinc sulphide
Now-a-days Photo-Multiplier-Tube (PMT) is used;
Photo-Emissive Processes Fluorescence: A luminescence that is mostly found as an optical phenomenon in cold bodies, in which the molecular absorption of a photon triggers the emission of another photon with a longer wavelength. Phosphorescence: A delayed luminescence, that is, a luminescence that persists after removal of the exciting source. It is sometimes called afterglow. Corresponds to light of longer wavelength than fluorescence Delayed Florescence: Delayed emission than fluorescence & Light of equal wavelength to fluorescence
Properties of Good Scintillator It should convert the Kinetic Energy (K.E.) of charged particles into detectable light with a high scintillation efficiency; This conversion should be linear the light yield should be proportional to deposited energy over as wide range as possible; The medium should be transparent to the wavelength of its own emission for good light collection;
(Contd.)
The decay time of the induced luminescence should be short so that fast signal pulses can be generated; The material should be of good optical quality and subject to manufacture in sizes large enough to be of interest as a practical detector; Its index of refraction should be near that of glass (n ~ 1.5) to permit efficient coupling of the scintillation light to a PMT or other light sensor
(Contd.)
Properties of Good Scintillator Property Light Output yield Light emission response Z Number Inorganic Scintillator more Slow high
(Contd.)
Current mode scintillator detectors used where radiation intensity changes rapidly and will suffer from after glow effects if long lived decay components are significant
Organic Scintillators
Fluorescence in organics is due to transitions in the energy levels of a single molecule
However, inorganic Scintillators (such as NaI(Tl) do need a regular crystal structure as a basis to emit scintillations.
Organic Scintillators
Large category of organic Scintillators are based on organic molecules with some symmetry properties and this gives rise to -electron structure of organic molecules;
Singlet states (spin 0): S0, S1, S2, ... Triplet states (Spin 1): T1, T2, T3, ... Energy spacing is generally of the order of S1 - S0 ~ 3 - 4 eV S3 - S2< S2 - S1< S1 - S0
Organic Scintillators
Vibrational states of molecules
S00, S01, S02 , S10, S11, S12 First subscript is for main energy state and second is for vibrational state. S01 - S00 ~ 0.15 eV However, the thermal energy is 0.025 eV which is much smaller than 0.15eV so all molecules at room temperature are at S00 ground state.
(Contd.)
(Contd.)
(Contd.)
(Contd.)
Plastic Scintillators
Organic scintillator polymerized dissolved in solvent is
Large volume solid Scintillators of low cost can be made, but large size may cause some problem of attenuation of light Available as rods, sheets, cylinders etc. Small size solid Scintillators---available as single fiber, group of fibers----as bundles, ribbons etc. Radiation damage may cause decrease in light output or decrease in the light transmission
(Contd.)
(Contd.)
NaI(Tl) Scintillator
Pure Crystal NaI Interaction of radiation results in UV photons It can operate at liquid nitrogen temperature Activated Crystal NaI(Tl)
Small amount (~ 10-3 mole fraction) of Thallium is added as an activator in high purity NaI;
Interaction of radiation-----visible photons are emitted; Operate at room temperature;
NaI(Tl) Scintillator
Properties
(Contd.)
NaI(Tl) Scintillator
(Contd.)
Decay time of scintillation pulse is 230 ns which is long for fast timing or high counting rate applications Phosphorescence with 0.15 s decay time which contribute 9% of overall light yield High Temperature Operation Scintillation yield is dropped with increasing temperature, results in poor energy resolution Decay time decreases with increase in temperature, give faster response at higher temperatures
(Contd.)
Reduction of transparency: caused by the creation of color centers that absorb scintillation light Interference with processes that give rise to the emission of the scintillation light itself
Radiation exposures can also induce long-lived light emission in the form of phosphorescence that can be troublesome in some measurements
Radiation damage are often observed to be rate dependent and vary greatly with type of radiation involved
Introduction of PMT
This device is used to convert weak light signal from scintillator (few hundred photons) to a corresponding electrical signal without adding a large amount of noise
PMT
Base
Crystal
Introduction of PMT
Photocathode
(Contd.)
Convert light photon to low energy electrons called photoelectrons A few hundred in number Charge too small to serve as electrical signal
Electron Multiplier Section (Dynode)
Provide an efficient geometry for photoelectrons Serve as an amplifier Multiply the electrons 1071010 electrons per photon
Output Stage Anode
Introduction of PMT
Linear Behavior
Output pulse remains proportional to number of original photoelectrons
(Contd.)
Timing Information
Most of the information of original light pulse is retained Electrons are produced within 20 50 ns after light photon
Photocathode
Photoemission
The conversion of incident light photon into electrons is called photo-emission
Photocathode
Energy requirements: Step 1 The energy of a scintillation photon (~ 3 eV) is absorbed Step 2 Some of energy is lost in e e collisions in migration process. Step 3
(Contd.)
The remaining should be greater than work function (~ 1.5 2 eV) of the material;
Min. energy of photon must be greater than the potential barrier Surface barrier must be low to maximize escape electrons; Rate of energy loss of migrating electron must be small to maximize escape depth;
Electron Multiplication
Multiplication factor The overall multiplication factor of a single dynode is defined as (typical value is 5):
(Contd.)
overall gain N
Where, is fraction of all photoelectrons collected by the multiplier structure (typical value is 1) and N is number of stages.
Various Configurations