REPORT ON DEAD TIME OF A GEIGER MULLER

CONTRIBUTION:AARUSHI - B120010004 ABHINANDAN - B120010013 ALEENA - B120010039

Gathered information from internet and made the report and presentation collectively.

AIM: To find the dead time of a Geiger Muller.

APPARATUS: GM Counting system GC601A/602A with AC main chord, GM detector, source holder bench, GM stand with connecting cables, Radioactive sources.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION:
i.

GM-COUNTER: A GeigerMller counter,

also called a Geiger counter, is a type of particle detector that measures ionizing radiations. It detects the emission of nuclear radiation alpha particles, beta particles, or gamma rays by the ionization produced in a low-pressure gas in a Geiger Muller Tube, which gives its name to the instrument.

ii.

GM-TUBE:The Geiger Mller tube (or G-M tube) is the sensing element of the Geiger counter instrument used for the detection of ionizing radiation. It was named after Hans Geiger who invented the principle in 1908, and Walther Muller who collaborated with Geiger in developing the technique further in 1928 to produce a practical tube that could detect a number of different radiation types

iii.

GM-DEADTIME: After a discharge takes place in a Geiger Muller tube due to an event caused by an incident particle, the space charge around the outer cathode region depresses the field at the central anode so as to make any further multiplication by collision impossible. A second particle entering the tube at this time will not produce a pulse. As the space charge moves toward the cathode, the field increases again. It becomes sufficiently large so that a second particle may produce a small pulse after a certain time , the dead time, following the passage of the first pulse.

THEORY :There is an interval of time following the production of a pulse in the GM tube during which no other pulse can be recorded. This interval is called the dead-time of the system. Two models of dead time are in common use, categorized on the basis of paralyzable and nonparalyzable response of the detector. The fundamental assumptions of the two models are illustrated in figure. At the center of the figure, a time scale is shown on which six randomly spaced events in the detector are indicated. At the bottom of the figure is the corresponding dead time behavior of a detector to be nonparalyzable. A fixed time t is assumed to follow each true event that occurs during the live period of the detector. True events that occur during the dead period are lost and assumed to have no affect whatsoever on the behavior of the detector. In the example shown the nonparalyzable detector would record four counts from the six true events. In contrast, the behavior of a paralyzable detector is shown along the top line of figure. The same dead time t is assumed to follow each true interaction that occurs during the live period of the detector. True events that occur during the dead period are not recorded but they extend the dead time by another period t following the lost

event .In the example shown, only three counts are recorded for the six true events. The two models predict the same first order losses and differ only when true event rates are high. They are in some sense two extremes of idealized system behavior, and real counting system will often display a behavior that is intermediate between these extremes. The detailed behavior of a specific counting system may depend on the physical processes taking place in the detector itself or on delays introduced by the pulse processing and recording electronics. If the system dead time is , and the measured count rate is m, then the true count rate n predicted by the two models can be expressed as Nonparalyzable Model : n=m/1-mT ..........(1) Paralyzable Model : m = ne-nT ............(2) You may show that for low counting rates (n << 1/ T) both models give the same expression for n . In the present experiment we will utilize the nonparalyzable model in the calculation of true counts and the dead time T.

Schematic diagram for the paralyzable and nonparalyzable dead time.

PROCEDURE:
1.

Connect a GM tube to the GM connector via a BNC cable. Enter the HIGH VOLTAGE mode and set the high voltage to the recommended value for the GM tube . Place the first radioactive source (S1) close to the GM tubes window and determine the counting rate (N1). Fix the second radioactive source (S2) in the double source holder by the side of first source and determine the counting rate counting rate of two source together keeping the operating voltage same. Let it be N3. Now remove the first source S1 without disturbing S2 and determine the counting rate for the second source S2. Let it be N2.

2.

3.

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6.

At last remove the second source also and find the background counting rate corresponding to the operating voltage.

7. Repeat all the observations three times keeping the operating voltage same.

OBSERVATIONS: Operating Voltage applied to GM counter = 520V Background counting rate at beginning = b1 = 15counts/sec Background counting rate in the end = b2 = 16counts/sec Average background counting rate = (b1+b2)/2 = 15.5counts/sec.

Dead time of GM counter is T=(N1+N2-N3)/2N1N2 =536.47/8252089.89 =6.5*10-5 sec. PRECAUTIONS: 1. The operating voltage must be kept constant. 2. The second source must be placed by the side of the first source. When the first source is removed the position of the second source should not be disturbed.