Abstract
The production of Cerenkov radiation by charged particles moving through a transparent medium (the Cerenkov generator) is a strictly physical process that is virtually independent of the chemistry of the medium. Thus, it is possible to calculate easily all of the important parameters of the Cerenkov process such as excitation threshold, emission intensity, spectral distribution, directional characteristics, and time response. The results of many of these physical effects are unknown in conventional liquid scintillation spectroscopy and, therefore, many unique assay techniques have been developed as a result of their consideration. This paper will discuss the theoretical basis of the Cerenkov process, explore the unusual characteristics of the phenomenon, and demonstrate how these unusual characteristics can be used to develop equally unusual counting methodologies. Particular emphasis will be directed toward an analysis of published data (obtained with conventional liquid scintillation instrumentation) that would be difficult or impossible to obtain with other counting techniques. Also discussed is a new type of sample vial that uses an isolated waveshifting system. The device was specifically designed for Cerenkov counting.
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