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Thimble-Type Chambers
Spherical or cylindrical chambers (as shown schematically in the following diagram) having gas volumes of 0.1 3 cm3 are the most common forms of cavity ion chambers Such chambers, especially the spherical designs, are reasonably isotropic in their sensitivity to radiation except for attenuation in the connecting stem
Fully guarded spherical thimble-type cavity ionization chamber. Cylindrical types may be regarded as elongated spherical chambers.
Gas Flow
A gas connector is also shown in the figure, allowing the chamber to be filled (and continuously replenished by flowing) with a gas other than air, or with pure dry air in place of ambient atmosphere This feature is not present in most designs, but is important for neutron dosimetry, where tissueequivalent and other special gases are employed
where (W/e)g for the gas has values which will be discussed in subsequent lectures Dg can in turn be related to the absorbed dose Dw in the inner layer of the wall through the application of appropriate cavity theory
where
a1 ! f1Z1 / A1 / i fi Zi / Ai
is the fraction of the electrons present in the mixture that belong to atoms of atomic number Z1, and so on; f1 is the weight fraction of that element present; and m has a value of about 3.5 On this basis Zair is found to have a value of 7.8
1 Tmax T ! *T T dT * 0
Insulators
Polystyrene, polyethylene, and Teflon are all excellent electrical insulators for ion-chamber use Most other common plastics, such as PMMA, Nylon, and Mylar, are also acceptable in most cases Teflon in particular is more readily damaged by radiation than the others, and should be avoided where total doses exceeding ~104 Gy are expected However, its smooth waxy surface is the most tolerant of humidity in the air without allowing leakage currents to pass across
Insulators (cont.)
Except for radiation-induced volumetric electrical leakage, most observed leakage is a surface phenomenon that is minimal for clean, polished surfaces and worsens where dirt and/or humidity are present A fiber or hair bridging an insulator often is the cause of such leakage, and a rubber syringe should be kept on hand for blowing away such debris
The breath is too humid for this purpose
Insulators (cont.)
One should avoid touching an insulator, especially with the fingers, as skin oil causes persistent leakage and is difficult to remove Pure ethyl or methyl alcohol is sometimes helpful in cleaning insulators by wiping the surface with a cotton swab, then drying with a syringe After such attempts one should not expect instant improvement; several hours may be needed for the insulator to return to normal
Insulators (cont.)
Mechanical stress of an insulator (e.g., bending a cable) can cause apparent leakage currents due to polarization effects, and rubbing the surface of an insulator can produce surface charges by the triboelectric effect that may take a long time to dissipate, during which leakage currents will be observed The forward projection of electrons in high-energy photon interactions can transport charge through an insulator and thus cause a high potential difference to develop between electrodes of a capacitor
Insulators (cont.)
Charged-particle beams incident on a thick insulator will build up charge wherever the particles stop at the ends of their paths When large blocks of insulating plastics such as acrylic or polystyrene are used as phantoms and irradiated to high doses by electron beams, the charge buildup due to stopped electrons may cause electric fields strong enough to influence the paths of primary or secondary electrons in the medium This condition can persist for hours or even days, distorting the dose distribution in subsequent photon or electron irradiations
Condenser-Type Chambers
It is sometimes advantageous to design a thimble chamber to operate without external connections while being irradiated One option for accomplishing this is to connect the chamber electrodes in parallel with a capacitor, built into the stem of the chamber as shown in the following diagram
Schematic diagram of a Victoreen-type condenser ion chamber. Ions are produced in both of the air compartments, but there is no electric field to collect ions from the stem compartment at left, which behaves like a Faraday cage.
(Q ! Q1 Q2 !
1 2
(Q is most accurately determined as the difference between the charge Q1 measured by connecting the unirradiated device across the input of a high-gain charge-integrating electrometer and the charge Q2 similarly measured after irradiation The radiation sensitivity of such a chamber is directly proportional to the chamber volume, and inversely proportional to C
4. The dose at the surface of a phantom can be measured by extrapolation, and the buildup vs. depth can be observed by adding thin sheets of phantom medium over the entrance foil
(Q 14 a C! ! 8.85 v 10 s (P
where the numerical constant has units of F/cm
Schematic diagram of a flat chamber with thick back wall of conducting material, illustrating the cause of polarity differences observed in the measured output current resulting from K radiation
Flat chamber designed not to exhibit polarity-difference effects. The collecting electrode is very thin (< 0.1 mm) and is mounted on a thin insulating layer (} 0.2 mm).
Extracameral Ionization
In (a) a flat chamber is shown, including an insulating plate painted on both sides with colloidal graphite, and a circular scratch made to separate the collector C from the guard ring G A bare wire is shown attached to the collector and leading out to a coaxial-cable connection at the side, and thence to the electrometer input Since the radiation beam also irradiates the guardring area, air ions as shown (assuming +HV) may be collected by electric lines of force terminating on the wire, thus contributing measured charge from a region outside of the collecting volume
Simple design for a transmission ionization chamber. The size is optional, but the HV electrode should be larger in diameter than the ion collector, which in turn should cover the beam area to be monitored.