The Geiger Discharge

Abstract

It is pointed out that those phenomena concerned with Geiger counter operation which are well understood are those associated with the motion of the positive ion sheath while those awaiting explanation are associated with its development. A theory of this development is presented and used to calculate the following phenomena:(i) The relation between starting potential and counter variables.(ii) The amount of charge generated in the discharge.(iii) The shape of the plateau curve.(iv) The velocity of propagation of the discharge down the wire.Good agreement is obtained at all points.The curve connecting the charge generated and the overvolts is shown to consist of two parts, each a straight line, their slopes bearing a ratio of 2:1. The plateau curve is shown to climb more steeply to its constant value, the greater the number of electrons liberated in the counter by the ionizing particle, and the effect is confirmed experimentally. The velocity of propagation is shown to vary roughly linearly with overvolts but to tend to a finite value at zero overvolts. All forms of counter behavior are shown to depend strongly on the ratio of charge generated in the counter to that originally on the wire.