Evaluation of the reproducibility in radioactivity measurements with liquid scintillation counters--effect of anomalous count rate-dependent photomultiplier gain variations (author's transl)

Abstract

Time variations in count rate were measured for prolonged period of time using a set of 3H samples and a few other specially prepared samples of 14C, 32P, and 137Cs. Besides, beta-ray spectra of a particular 3H sample were measured as a function of time with a multichannel pulse height analyzer. These measurements lead to the following conclusions: (1) Anomalous count rate variations are attributed to strong dependence of photomultiplier gain on count rate. (2) Different steady state count rates can be observed for 3H samples having activities of approximately 10(5) dps when they are measured immediately after the measurements of background and 3H samples of higher activities. (3) The count rate-dependent effect on photomultiplier gain can be described properly by the current flowing through the tube rather than the count rate. (4) The measurement of the external standard channel ratio using the built-in 137Cs source can affect seriously the successive measurements on 3H samples, while the channels ratio itself exhibits strong time dependence.