Sodium Iodide Detector

Scintillation counters were first invented in 1944 by Sir Samuel Curran while working on the Manhattan Project at the University of Berkley. Curran invented scintillation counting while developing theories based on work originally carried out by Becquerel who is credited with the discovery of radiation. Scintillation counters allowed for the accurate measurement of gamma radiation that was previously hard to detect, and lead to the development of gamma ray spectrometry. The early forms of scintillators used organic crystals as the absorption material in the detector, until the development of sodium iodide detectors came in 1948 when Robert Hofstadter first demonstrated sodium iodide with thallium as an activator found as an impurity within the crystal in 0.2% amount. Sodium Iodide which is an inorganic crystal of the alkali halide group became the most popular material for scintillators for gamma rays and low energy beta particles, and ushered in inorganic crystals as the new materials for scintillators. Sodium iodide was popular because it was easy to manufacture it could be shaped and cut to fit into most detectors, it allowed for efficiencies to near 100% and it has a relatively low decay time of 230 ns. Scintillation counters work by having a scintillating material around the detector that absorbs the energy of the gamma ray or low energy beta, depending on the energy of the gamma ray and the absorption properties of the scintillation material used the interaction type depends on the atomic number of the scintillating material the higher the atomic number the greater cross section which gives the higher probability of absorption, three cases are possible for the detection and measurement of the original energy of the gamma ray, these are the three cases gamma spectrometry studies. Sodium iodide having Z = 53 makes it a great absorber. The first case in low energy gamma rays of energies up to a few hundred keV is photoelectric absorption. The second case in high energy gamma rays minimum energy of 1.02 MeV, usually in the range

of five to ten MeV is pair production. The third case is the in-between case that occurs most often between the two extremes of photoelectric and pair production is Compton scattering. The resulting interaction gives off a photon that is detected by the photo sensitive cathode of the photomultiplier tube which causes electrons to be ejected and accelerated by a voltage potential of 100 volts toward a second electrode called a dynode which multiplies the photo count up to ten times. This process continues until all the electrons are collected by the anode of the photomultiplier tube. The magnitude of the current pulse is proportional to the energy of the primary ionizing particles allowing you to graph the energy of the primary particles. Photoelectric absorption happens when low energy gamma rays with energy equal to hv collide with a fast electron usually found in the k-orbital of the atom. The collision causes the energy of the gamma ray to be absorbed fully by the electron which is then ejected from the atom with energy equal to the energy of the incoming gammy ray minus the binding energy of the electron, conservation of momentum causes the atom to recoil, however, due to the large mass difference in the atom versus the electron the recoil is often ignored in calculations. The energized electron travels through the scintillating material before being reabsorbed resulting in the emission of a photon. Photoelectric absorption is the preferred interaction to have because the intensity of the photon given off is proportional to the energy of the primary gamma ray originally absorbed by the scintillating material, resulting in efficiencies nearing 100%. Compton scattering results when an incoming gamma ray strikes an electron and rather than be absorbed is partially reflected off the electron giving the electron energy but not enough to escape from its orbital. The reflected gamma ray is absorbed and gives off a photon. If the gamma rays are monoenergetic the photon given off by the interaction between the gamma ray and the electron produce a narrow energy distribution known as Doppler Spread. One drawback

of Compton scattering is a gamma ray maybe backscattered 180 degrees which results in the gamma ray not being detected by the photomultiplier tube which causes the efficiency to be lower than expected. This backscattering can be adjusted for using a well detector which places the whole sample inside of the detector, allowing for a larger number of backscattering and near backscattering to be detected by the photomultiplier tube. Pair production happens when higher energy gamma rays minimum of 1.02 MeV enter the electric field near the protons of the nucleus of the atom resulting in the production of an electron-positron pair. The energy required to produce the pair is equal to 2MoC^2, any energy above 1.02Mev is converted to kinetic energy shared by the pair which is ejected into the surrounding medium. The pair may travel up to a few millimeters before the positron loses its kinetic energy and undergoes annihilation with its counterpart. The result is the formation of photons with energy around .511MeV which are then detected by the photomultiplier tube. The scintillating material determines the efficiency and type of detector, so the material must be chosen to be best suited for the source being analyzed. Most commonly sodium iodide with thallium as an activator is chosen overall for most detectors. The activator is also important to be chosen with care as its the activator that produces the photons, so the depending upon the energy to be measured the activator must absorb enough energy to emit light in the visible spectrum, pure crystal without an activator has forbidden bands where no electrons exist. If the emitted light is not in the visible spectrum the photomultiplier tube maybe coated with a wavelength shifter to allow the photons to be seen by the photomultiplier tube. Sodium iodide is the standard by which other scintillators are compared Sodium iodide is becoming obsolete with the immergence of new inorganic crystals that cut the decay time from 230 ns down to 100 ns and have twice the resolving power, sodium iodide must also be contained in an air tight

container at all times because it is hygroscopic and will be damaged by the moisture in the atmosphere. New inorganic crystals also eliminate phosphorescence also called afterglow which is common in sodium iodide detectors, which is caused by low energy beta particles which energizes an electron in the scintillation material without giving it enough energy to escape from the orbital causes the energized electron to bleed off the energy with bremsstrahlung radiation that causes background light to be detected by the photomultiplier tubes. This phosphorescence has a decay time of .15 seconds, in high rate counts this slowly builds up the background count overtime. There are different types of scintillation detectors each with their own uses and drawbacks. The different scintillators include organic crystals, organic liquids, plastics, Inorganic crystals, gas, and glass. The most commonly used are plastics which can be easily manufactured and shaped for multiple uses in many fields of gamma ray spectroscopy including nuclear physics, particle physics, astrophysics, and chemistry which analyzes the energy spectrum of gamma rays to determine the nuclides that are emitting the gamma rays. Organic crystal scintillators are aromatic hydrocarbons usually crystals that contain benzene ring. Organic crystal however is hard to grow and cant attain large size. They also have a lower resolving power compared to inorganic crystals. Organic Liquids usually of the flours family of chemicals the most common are toluene, xylene, and benzene. Organic liquids can be used to detect thermal neutrons. Organic liquids often require wavelength shifters and must be sealed in airtight containers to reduce quenching caused by dissolved oxygen. Quenching reduces light output of the scintillating material which results in reduced efficiency. Plastics are the most common type of scintillator used as they can be easily manufactured and shaped for many uses. Most commonly used plastics are polyvinyl toluene and polystyrene. The decay

functions of plastics are Gaussian rather than exponential. Inorganic crystals are another popular scintillating material as they can be easily grown and shaped in large furnaces. The most common are the alkali metal halides i.e. sodium iodide. These crystals are often doped with an activator to make detection easier; in the case of sodium iodide thallium is the activating agent. Another common crystal is lanthanum chloride doped with cerium. Inorganic crystals suffer from being hygroscopic so they must be sealed off from the atmosphere; their decay times are slower than many organic crystals. Gaseous scintillators are made from a mix of nitrogen and noble gases, which can be helium, argon, krypton, or xenon, usually helium or xenon. The walls of the detector must be coated in a wavelength shifter to be detected because gas scintillators emit light in the ultraviolet spectrum. Only highly pressurized gas scintillators can detect gamma rays, however the decay time of gas scintillators is only 1ns so they can accurately measure high rate events. Glass scintillators usually made of Cerium activated lithium or boron silicate are used as neutron detectors. Glass scintillators have a response time of 10ns and are only 30% efficient.

Photoelectric absorption

Compton scattering

Works Cited Cember, Herman, and Thomas E. Johnson. Introduction to Health Physics. New York: McGrawHill Medical, 2009. Print.

Knoll, Glenn F. Radiation Detection and Measurement. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2010. Print.

"NAID NaI Detector - CANBERRA, Analytical Instruments, Systems and Services for Radiation Detection and Radiation Monitoring." CANBERRA, Measurement Solutions for Nuclear Safety and Security | Radiation Detection. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://www.canberra.com/products/514.asp>.

"Scintillation Detectors." ORTEC Homepage. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://www.orteconline.com/Solutions/RadiationDetectors/scintillation-detectors.aspx>.