Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the second edition
- Preface to the first edition
- Introduction
- 1 Interactions of particles and radiation with matter
- 2 Characteristic properties of detectors
- 3 Units of radiation measurements and radiation sources
- 4 Accelerators
- 5 Main physical phenomena used for particle detection and basic counter types
- 6 Historical track detectors
- 7 Track detectors
- 8 Calorimetry
- 9 Particle identification
- 10 Neutrino detectors
- 11 Momentum measurement and muon detection
- 12 Ageing and radiation effects
- 13 Example of a general-purpose detector: Belle
- 14 Electronics
- 15 Data analysis
- 16 Applications of particle detectors outside particle physics
- Résumé
- 17 Glossary
- 18 Solutions
- Appendix 1 Table of fundamental physical constants
- Appendix 2 Definition and conversion of physical units
- Appendix 3 Properties of pure and composite materials
- Appendix 4 Monte Carlo event generators
- Appendix 5 Decay-level schemes
- Index
5 - Main physical phenomena used for particle detection and basic counter types
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the second edition
- Preface to the first edition
- Introduction
- 1 Interactions of particles and radiation with matter
- 2 Characteristic properties of detectors
- 3 Units of radiation measurements and radiation sources
- 4 Accelerators
- 5 Main physical phenomena used for particle detection and basic counter types
- 6 Historical track detectors
- 7 Track detectors
- 8 Calorimetry
- 9 Particle identification
- 10 Neutrino detectors
- 11 Momentum measurement and muon detection
- 12 Ageing and radiation effects
- 13 Example of a general-purpose detector: Belle
- 14 Electronics
- 15 Data analysis
- 16 Applications of particle detectors outside particle physics
- Résumé
- 17 Glossary
- 18 Solutions
- Appendix 1 Table of fundamental physical constants
- Appendix 2 Definition and conversion of physical units
- Appendix 3 Properties of pure and composite materials
- Appendix 4 Monte Carlo event generators
- Appendix 5 Decay-level schemes
- Index
Summary
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.
Werner HeisenbergA particular type of detector does not necessarily make only one sort of measurement. For example, a segmented calorimeter can be used to determine particle tracks; however, the primary aim of such a detector is to measure the energy. The main aim of drift chambers is a measurement of particle trajectories but these devices are often used for particle identification by ionisation measurements. There is a number of such examples.
This chapter considers the main physical principles used for particle detection as well as the main types of counters (detector elements). The detectors intended for the measurement of certain particle characteristics are described in the next chapters. A brief introduction to different types of detectors can be found in [1].
Ionisation counters
Ionisation counters without amplification
An ionisation counter is a gaseous detector which measures the amount of ionisation produced by a charged particle passing through the gas volume. Neutral particles can also be detected by this device via secondary charged particles resulting from the interaction of the primary ones with electrons or nuclei. Charged particles are measured by separating the charge-carrier pairs produced by their ionisation in an electric field and guiding the ionisation products to the anode or cathode, respectively, where corresponding signals can be recorded.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Particle Detectors , pp. 90 - 159Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008