Improved Alpha Air Proportional Counter

Abstract

The limitations of alpha counters using air in the proportional amplification region were investigated with a view toward a better design that would provide improved performance and reliability. A new detector is described which incorporates a shielded guard-ring insulator assembly that provides freedom from insulator failure at high humidities. It is believed that spurious pulses also arise from the effect of humidity on the conductivity of foreign particles adhering to the anode wires. Reducing the relative humidity (rh) by the use of a small heater which maintains the detector 20°F above room temperature prevents this type of failure and provides reliable operation at 98% rh. The associated amplifier and discriminator were designed to detect the slow components of the ionization pulses associated with the transit time of negative oxygen ions. The resulting efficiency is 39% of the total disintegrations, with a plateau of over 150 volts having a slope of less than 4% per 100 volts.