1

Linearr Accelerators

In a linnear accelerrator (or linnac) for acccelerating ioons, particlees pass throough a seriies of metall
pipes called
c drift tubes that are located in a vaccuum vesseel and connnected succcessively too
alternatte terminals of an r.f. osscillator.

Positivee ions acceelerated by the field move

m towarrds the firstt drift tubee. If the altternator cann
change its directioon as the ioons pass thrrough that tube,
t then they
t will bee accelerateed again onn
their waay between the exit off the first annd entry to the
t second tube,
t and soo on. To acccelerate thee
chargedd particles when
w they cross
c the gapp, the half period
p of r.ff field (or aaccelerating field) mustt
be equaal to the tim
me taken byy the particcles pass thrrough the tuubes.Thus tthe particlees will form m
bunchess. Because the
t particless are acceleerating, theirr speed is inncreasing annd hence the lengths off
the drifft tubes have to increasse to ensuree continuouss acceleratioon. To prodduce a usefu ful beam thee
particlees must keepp in phase with
w the r.f. field and reemain focussed.

Proton linacs of thhis type aree often usedd in particlee physics as

a injectors. That is, thhey producee
proton beams of m moderate ennergy that are injectedd into a more
m powerfful machinee, usually a
synchrootron , wherre they are accelerated
a to much higgher energiees.

ATLAS S at the Arggonne Natioonal Laboraatory, USA can produce beams off a very wid de variety off
stable ioons with ennergies in the range per nucleon.
If i length of the
is tubbe and i the velociity of the chharged partiicle in the
is tube,

(Since the
t travel tim me inside a drift tube is equal to half
h the periood of the r.ff field)
Let the particles inn the tubbe carries a kinetic enerrgy then
n,
1.
 2

2.

1 for the relativistic case

Kinetic energy
Note: If is the charge of the ion, is the peak value of the ac frequency applied to the drift
tubes, then in each gap ions acquire energy .If there are such gaps then, kinetic energy
acquired in the gaps

For electrons, whose speed very rapidly approaches the speed of light, the accelerator consists of
a straight tube in the form of a series of cylindrical metal cavities. Power is fed to the accelerator
from a series of devices called klystrons, which produce electromagnetic radiation in the form of
microwave pulses that are transported via waveguides to the accelerator. There they generate an
oscillating electric field pointing along the direction of the metal tube and a magnetic field in a
circle around the interior of the accelerating tube. The magnetic field helps to keep the beam
focused, and the frequency of the microwaves is adjusted so that the electrons arrive at each
cavity of the accelerator at the optimal time to receive the maximum energy boost from the
electric field. As long as this phase relationship can be maintained, the particles will be
continuously accelerated. The largest electron linac at Stanford has a maximum energy of
50 .
In linear accelerator we face two types of focusing problems.
1. Phase focusing
2. Radial focusing

Phase Focusing

It will enable an accelerator to produce more energetic particles. It is possible to obtain phase
focusing, if the particle beam made to cross the accelerating gap or cavity during the raising part
of accelerating potential. This is because particles with low velocities arrive at the cavity later
than the particles with higher velocities. Therefore, they will receive more acceleration and
equalize their velocity. This is not possible or will have opposite effect, if the particles made to
cross the cavity during falling part of the accelerating potential.

Radial Focusing
 3

This will enable to the accelerator to produce a well-pointed beam of particle. As can be seen
from the figure, an ion off the axis is acted upon by an axially directed field component,
which accelerates the ion and by the radial component of the field. The radial component
acts inwards in the first half of the gap, tending to push the ion towards the axis. In the second
half of the gap, the radial component acts outwards, tending to push the ion away from the axis.
Thus, the radial component has a focusing action in the first half and a defocusing effect in the
second half. However, since the ions moves faster than in the second half than in the first, they
spend less time in the second half of the region, so that there is a net focusing effect due to the
radial field. It can be shown that the radial focusing is effective if the ions cross the gap during
falling part of the accelerating potential, in which the accelerating potential decreases from the
maximum towards to zero.

These requirements for phase focusing and radial focusing will be opposing one another. To
overcome these problems we can use either,
1. a third electrode (grid)
2. quadruple magnets.

A metallic gird has been placed across the entrance end of each drift tube. This makes the lines
of force of the electric field converging all the way from the exit-end of a tube to the entrance
end of the next tube. Radial focusing now occurs at any time during the accelerating half cycle of
the r.f field, i.e., for the phase of the field between 0 to . Hence, this covers the range of phase
focusing.

A second method of achieving radial focusing is to use a quadruple magnet within each drift-
tube, which compensates the defocusing of the ion beams during the gap crossing.

The light arrows indicate field directions; the heavy arrows, the force on the positive particle
travelling into the paper.
 4

Cyclotron

Cyclotron is based on the principle that charged particles acquire energy when they repeatedly
move through an alternating electric field along a spiral path. They move in a spiral path by a
perpendicular magnetic field. A cyclotron consists of two D- shaped hollow semicircular
chambers and called “Dees” because of their shapes. These dees are connected to the
terminals of an alternating high frequency and high voltage peak value.

This arrangement makes one dee is positive and other is negative during one-half cycle and vice
versa in the next half cycle. An ion source S of positive ions, such as protons, deuterons,
particles, etc, is placed in the central region of the gap between the dees and .
A uniform magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the cross sectional area of the dees by
placing them between the pole faces of a large electromagnet.

For an instance (say) is positive and is neagative.These positive will be accelerated

forwards dee and enter the dee . As there is no electric field inside the dees, the ions are
subjected to perpendicular magnetic field. The perpendicular magnetic field acts on the ions and
positive ions move in a circular path.
Once inside the dee, they experience no acceleration and move with a constant velocity. After
traversing the semicircular path inside the dee , they return to the gap between the dees. The
frequency of the oscillator is adjusted in such a way that when ions reach the gap, the dee
becomes positive and becomes negative. Now the positive ions are accelerated towards the
dee , thus gaining in kinetic energy. The ions enter the dee with higher kinetic energy
compared to the value it was in dee . In the dee , they move again in a circular path with
larger radius but with a constant velocity. After covering the semicircle inside the dee , the
ions reach the gap between the dees. At this instance gain the polarity of the dees is reversed,
positive ions again experience acceleration and this process is repeated many times. Finally,
when the positive ions reach the periphery of the dee after gaining a maximum energy, it is
extracted out of the dees by means of high voltage deflecting plates.
 5

Let be the mass of the positive ions to be accelerated is the charge on the ion. The ion moves
in a semicircular of radius with velocity in a perpendicular magnetic field .
Magnetic force acting on the ion

As positive ions gain energy, i.e. increases, the ions move in a semicircle of larger and larger
radius. Therefore, the path of the ions is spiral in the dees.
If is the time taken by the ions to complete a semicircular path, then
12
2
Where is the angular frequency and

Time for completing a full circular path is given by

2
2

is independent of the velocity of the ion, radius of the semicircular path and radius of the dees.
Hence, the frequency of the oscillations required to keep the ion phase is given by
1
2
where cyclotron frequency and it is the frequency of ac oscillator also.
If is the radius of the orbit from which the ions are extracted out of the dees and
is the velocity of the ions in the last orbit, then,

Correspondingly, the maximum kinetic energy of the ions is

1
2
1
2
1
2
2
 6

The above equation shows that the final energy depends on the radius of the dees and the
strength of the magnetic induction field (or the frequency f of the rf voltage which depends on
).So to achieve higher energy, a magnet of larger radius is to be used.

But

Where -total number of circles completed by the ions before it is extracted out of the dees,
– peak value of the ac voltage
1
2
1 2

It can be shown that the radius of the orbit after the dee crossing is given by
1 2

Plane Focusing

Due to the curvature of the magnetic field lines near the periphery (outer edge) of the magnet the
particles moving in orbits with large radius are focused towards the central plane. In other words
due to the end effect the plane focusing is possible.

It is also possible to obtain plane focusing using specially constructing the outer edge of the
magnet as shown below.

In this diagram magnetic field lines are made progressively curved from the centre.
 7

Phase Focusingg

At orbitts with largge radius, th

he relativistic mass inccreases and magnetic fi field strengtth decreasess
due to the end efffect. Both these
t effects will increease the perriod of the revolution of charged d
particlee. This will in phase deefocusing. Due
D to this further
f acceeleration beecome impo ossible. Thiss
problem m can be remmoved by using speciallly construccted magnett as shown bbelow.

This arrrangement increases

i th
he field strenngth at both
h edges. Bu ut this kind of special construction
c n
will upsset the plane focusing of o the beam m.Due to thee above prob blem, maxim mum energgy attainablee
from thhe cyclotronn machine iss limited by y the increaase of relativ
vistic mass or onset off relativisticc
effect.D
Due to the onset
o of rellativistic efffect, graduaally all the particle staart to movee in a fixedd
orbit with effectively receivin ng no accelleration wheen they cro oss the gap between th he D shaped d
des. This orbbit is called
electrod d phase stable orbit.

Betatrron

This machine
m uses the conceept of electrromagnetic induction asa the accelerating forcce. Betatron
n
consistss of a douughnut-shap ped chamber, which is placed between thhe pole pieces of an n
electrom
magnet. The chamber is highly evacuated
e a electron
and ns with certtain kinetic energy aree
injected
d into a circcular orbit by
b an electroon gun. Thee electromaagnet is pow
wered by ann alternating
g
current..

This beetatron consists of a hig

ghly evacuaated doughnnut shaped chamber,
c whhich is placced between
n
the polees of electrromagnet coonnected to
o an alternatting electricc field. Thee magnet’s pole piecess
are desiigned in suuch a manneer that these have got a strong field in the ccentre with gradient off
magnetic field towwards edges.
 8

The electrons are initially accelerated in an electron gun and are released into circular orbit due
to the magnetic field (of strength ) which is at right angles to the electron velocity.

Or

A flux cuts this orbit and is changed at the rate of .

Due to the change of flux, an induced . . is produced causing more speedy motion of the
electrons.
Let the induced field component tangential to the orbit be and the orbit radius be , then the
induced . . is given by

.
Induced . . in the electron orbit is equal to work one by the unit charge in going around the
orbit or radius .i.e.
2
and the force acing on the electron will be equal to the rate of change of momentum.i.e.

But

Hence,

2
If we start from a zero flux and zero field at the orbits, we get
2
This relation between the magnetic flux and field at the orbit involves only the radius of the orbit
and is independent of energy or the mass of the particle.

A large central flux is created initially by the doughnut shaped magnet pole face. In order to
produce flux changes, a sinusoidally varying current is introduced into the coils of the
electromagnet during the first quarter of the cycle.
 9

After thhe point , the curren nt is disconnnected fromm the electtromagnet aand is conn nected to a
dummy y load for of thee period. Du hich the maagnetic flux is changed,
uring the intterval in wh
the elecctrons makee a large nu umber of revolutions
r on a fixed orbit of raadius . Thee larger thee
numberr of revolutiions, larger will be the energy gainned by electtrons.

It is to be noted thhat the chan

nges of the flux take place
p during
g of tthe cycle orr during ,
where is the freq quency of th
he alternatinng current. Electrons travel
t with a velocity close
c to thatt
of light. Therefore the numberr of revolutiion are giveen by

x variation is given by
The flux

The eneergy gained by the elecctron per turrn will be

And thee average vaalue over a quarter periiods will bee

ore, the totall energy gaiined by the electrons will

Therefo w be

As the operation oof betatron is independ dent of relaativistic inccrease of mass it may appear thatt
extremeely high eneergy might be obtainab ble. But thiss is not so because
b elecctromagnetiic radiation--
loss inccreases as thhe fourth po
ower of enerrgy gain andd this sets th
he high enerrgy limit to about
300 MeeV.
 10

Limitation Due to Relativistic Effect

The maximum energies of particles attainable in a cyclotron cannot be increased indefinitely by

increasing the size of the apparatus because of relativistic increase in mass of the particles to

1
Where is the mass and , the mass at velocity . As the speed of the particle increases to
become comparable with the speed of the light, its mass m increases appreciably.
Therefore, the frequency goes on decreasing and the particle traverses each dee too slowly and
becomes more and more out of step with the applied alternating potential difference, disturbing
the synchronization. The frequency of circular motion of the particle.

1
2
There are two methods possible to compensate for the relativistic increase in mass.

a. By keeping the factor 1 constant to keep the orbital frequency of the ions
unchanged. It is achieved by using such an electromagnet for which the magnet field
increases with an increase in the velocity of the ions during their motion along orbits of
increasing radius. Such an accelerator is known as synchrotron
b. The decrease in ion frequency due to relativistic effect can be compensated by reducing
the frequency of the applied alternating electric field with increase of velocity such that
the two frequencies always equal each other. Such an accelerator is synchrocyclotron.

Synchrocyclotron.

In this machine, the limitation introduced by the relativistic effect was removed by introducing a
periodic step-by-step increase of the period of the r.f. field. Initially the particles are accelerated
like in cyclotron machine. Due to the relativistic effect, it is not possible to accelerate beyond
certain radius of the particle orbit. At this orbit, all particles move with the same phase but
without any acceleration, when they cross the gap.
This orbit is called “phase stable orbit.”
In synchrocyclotron machine, this radius is made small by using strong magnetic field. After
reaching this radius or phase stable orbit, the frequencies of the r.f. field is reduced by small step
and accelerate the ions until, they get again another phase stable orbit. In this way, it is possible
to accelerate particles to higher energies by reducing the frequency of the r.f. field in steps.
 11

The radius of the machine limits the maximum energy attainable in the machine. i.e. Radius of
the dees.
In the relativistic limit

1
And momentum

1
Hence

1
Or

1 1

2
2

For each value of particle energy in the magnetic field there is a particular orbit radius
The specific frequency of revolution is given by

2 2
Where
1

1
Let be the angular frequency of the phase stable orbit near the centre of the machine and
be the angular frequency of the accelerating field for phase stable orbit near the periphery of the
magnets.
Then
magnetic ield at the centre
 12

magnetic ield near the periphery

The kinetic energy attainable

∆
∆
∆

.∆ .Δ ∆

Where Δ

.∆ .Δ
.
∆ ∆

The output of the machine is the form of pulse, if is the pulse repeation time, then
2

Where - is the number of revolution and is the average angular frequency.

Synchrotron

In this machine the charged particle are accelerated in fixed radius path by increasing the
strength of the magnetic field.In this machine, the particles are maintained at constant radius in a
ring shaped vacuum chamber contained in a magnetic field.
 13

In relativistic

Hence, to increase the momentum and energy of a particle in a fixed radius path the magnetic
field has to increase.Maximum momentum attainable is therefore limited by both the
maximum strength of available magnetic field and the size of the ring.
The circulating angular frequency of the particle at any momentum is given by

Acceleration is achieved by having the particles pass through suitable phased r.f. cavities in the
ring.
To keep particles well contained inside the beam pipe and achieve the stable orbit, particles are
accelerated in bunches, synchronization with the radio frequency field. Analogously to linacs, all
particles in a bunch have to move in phase with the radiofrequency field. In high-energy
machine, the particles are accelerated in a linac before injection to the synchrotron.
For electrons, which become relativistic at very low energy, the velocity, and thus circulating
frequency is essentially constant. In the case of protons, we need to reduce the frequency of the
accelerating potential as they accelerated.

The machine is usually constructed by using large number of annular tubes and straight tubes.
The annular tubes are covered with “c” shaped magnets in order to give circular path for protons.
The straight tubes consists accelerating electrodes, electrostatic deflectors and quadrupole
magnets. Charged particle, which travels in a circular orbit with relativistic speeds emit
synchrotron radiation. Amount of energy radiated per turn is
4
∆
3
For relativistic particles, the energy loss increases as , becoming very

significant for high energy light particles ( electrons)

For relativistic electrons and protons of same momentum the ratio of energy loss
∆ electron
10
∆ proton
The radius of an electron synchrotron must be large to compensate for the synchrotron radiation
loss.
 14

Example: The LEP (large electron positron) acceleration at CERN was ~27 8.6 in
circumference. The CERN SPS (super proton synchrotron) has a radius 1.1 .. Much
higher energies are achieved for protons compared to electrons, due to smaller losses caused by
synchrotron radiation.
Depending on whether the beam is shooting into a stationary (fixed) target or is colliding with
another beam, both linear accelerator and cyclic accelerator are divided into two types.
1. Fixed target machine
2. Colliders
In fixed target machine, accelerated particles are extracted from the accelerator and directed onto
an external target. This can be the source of secondary particles , , , , , , , , that
need to be stable or long-lived but need not to be charged.

Extracted Beam

Target
Accelerator

Secondary Beams
Some Fixed Target Accelerators

Machine Type Particles

Tevatron II Synchrotron P 1000
Fermi lab, USA
SPS Synchrotron P 450
CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
SLAC linac 25
Stanford, California

Note: For collisions between two particles and , the total four momentum squared of the
system in the laboratory frame is

2 2 . .
2 2 . .
This is a Lorentz invariant.i.e. the same in all the frames. The centre of mass system
has ∑ 0 by definition. If the total energy in the frame is then,
2 2 . .
If the target at rest then
 15

2
Example: For a 450 proton a stationary proton target ( 0.938 )
2 450 0.938 29 . Only 29 is available for interesting physics, i.e. to create
new particles. The rest goes into propelling the centre of mass forward.

In colliders machines two beams of particles traveling in almost opposite directions are made to
collide at a small or zero crossing angle. In most of these machines, currently in operation the
colliding particles have the same mass.

Some colliders

Machine Particles E-beam

KEKB, KEK,Tokyo, Japan , 8,3.5
PEP-II, SLAC, California, USA , 9,3.1
LEP, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland , 105
HERA, Hamburg, Germany , 30,920
Tevatron II, Fermi lab, Illinois, USA , 1000
LHC, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland , 7000

If incident particle and target collide head on with and and they both highly
relativistic and then,
2 . 2 2
and
2 2 4
2
i.e. a 450 proton hitting a 450 proton gives 900 available.
i.e. Great advantage of colliding beam machines over fixed target machines. For
or machines one ring is sufficient since particles with opposite charges and same
mass can go in opposite directions using the same magnets. For or two rings are
required with different magnets. The disadvantage of colliding beams rate is much lower because
the target is much smaller.

Luminosity

The reaction rate is given by

Where cross section units of area , Luminosity units of area ,

 16

-number of bunches of particles in each beam (typically4 8), revolution frequency

450 40 . , are the number of particles in each bunch ~10
the area of each beam ~

Particle Detectors

The nuclear particle detectors are broadly divided into following two categories.
a. Electronic Detectors
The passage of a particle through such detectors produces charged particles which can be
collected by applying an electric field to produce a transient electrical pulse.
These pulses are then amplified and analyzed to find the intensity or energy spectrum of the
incident radiation. The following types of electronic detectors are commonly used.
i. Ionization chamber
ii. Proportional counter
iii. Geiger-Muller counter
iv. Scintillation counter
v. Cerenkov counter
vi. Semiconductor detector

b. Track Detectors
Such detectors produce charged particles due to ionisation loss along the trajectory of the
particle. These charged particles produce a particular physical phenomenon which leaves a track
along the trajectory of the particle. The following track detectors are commonly used.
i. Cloud chamber
ii. Bubble chamber
iii. Nuclear emulsion detectors
iv. Spark chamber

Gas Filled Ionization

When nuclear radiation passes through a gas contained between two electrodes, it ionizes the gas
molecules. The ions may be collected by applying an electric field (to the electrodes) to produce
an ionization current pulse across a resistor the magnitude of which depends upon the nature and
velocity of the incident particles and properties of the detector. Gas filled detector consists of a
cylindrical metal container filled with a readily ionizable gas such as argon or krypton at a low
pressure and carrying (along its axis) a thin tungsten wire, which is well insulated from the
container. The (outer) wall of the container is connected to the negative terminal and the central
tungsten electrode to the positive terminal of a d.c. power supply. The ions collected by the
electrodes produce an output pulse across the resistor which can be amplified by a linear
amplifier and analysed by a counter.
 17
7

A chargged particlee passing thhrough a gaas filled chhamber prod duces posittive ions an nd electronss
which are
a attracted d by cathodee and anodee respectiveely. The eneergy of the iion-pairs deepends uponn
the app
plied potenttial differen
nce. Before reaching tthe respectiive electroddes, the following two o
phenommena may taake place:
a. Multiplication: Due to n by the resspective eleectrodes, the ions get accelerated
t attraction a ,
producing further ion nization duee to successive collisiions of the ion pair with w neutrall
atoms. Thuus ions get multiplied and the mu ultiplication
n factor dep
pends upon the applied d
potential.
a. Recombinaation: If th he applied potential isi low the positive annd negativee ions may y
recombine but when the applieed potentiall is very high, h the frraction of ions which h
recombine becomes neegligible.

The nett number off ions produ uced due to combined effects
e (a) and
a (b) are collected
c by
y respectivee
electroddes, produccing a curreent pulse in i R. Thus,, these elecctric pulsess produced detect and d
measuree the ionisin ng radiation
n. The variaation of the pulse height (which ddepends on the numberr
of initiaal ion pairs produced) as a functio on of the ap
pplied voltaage for betaa and alpha particles iss
shown below.
b The ionisation current
c is laarger for -pparticles beecause their charge is more
m (twice))
than thaat of partiicles.
 18

The above curve can be divided into six distinct regions. In region I, the voltage applied is so low
that recombination of ions takes place. This is known as ion recombination region.
In region II, the voltage is sufficiently high so that only a negligible amount of recombination
takes place and the ion pairs move to the electrodes so rapidly that virtually every ion pair
reaches the electrodes and all ion pairs are collected in the region II. The gas filled detector
operating in region II is called an ionization chamber.

When the potential difference is further increased, the ion pairs get accelerated by the electric
field and produce secondary ion pairs in successive collisions. This phenomenon is called
Townsend avalanche. The ionization current is directly proportional to the energy of the incident
particle in this region III. The gas filled detector operating in this region is called the
proportional counter. Such a proportional behaviour is lost in the region IV for which the applied
potential is further increased. The pulse heights are still related to the applied voltage but no
longer proportional to initial ionizing intensity. This region is not useful for measurement and
limitations may be because:

(i) ultraviolet photons may be formed;

(ii) new electrons may be formed when positive ions reach the cathode; or
(iii) the space charge may distort the electric field

In a typical Townsend avalanche created by a single original electron, many excited gas
molecules are formed by electron in addition to secondary ions. Within usually a few
nanoseconds, these exited molecules return to their ground sate through the emissions of
ultraviolet (UV).These photons may be reabsorbed in the gas by photoelectric absorption less
tightly bound electrons creating new free electrons. Alternatively the photons may reach the
cathode wall where it could release a free electron upon absorption. In both cases, the newly
created free electrons move towards the anode and trigger another avalanche.

In region V, the multiplication of secondary ions increases by a large factor and the curves for
and particles merge showing that the ionization current is independent of the initial ionization.
A minimum ionizing particle produces a pulse of large height and the detector operating in
region V is called a Geiger Muller Counter.

At the end of the Geiger region, the counter goes into continuous discharge region and the
discharge consists of a large number of multiple pulses. The region is of no interest because the
discharge is indifferent to the presence of incident charged particles.
 19

Ionization Chamber

When the detector operates in region II, it collects actual number of ions produced because the
recombination is negligible. The count-rate records actual ionization current produced without
any multiplication of ions. The pulse height produced is 10 for an or particle of
1 energy. As small number of ions are produced which are collected instantaneously, the
counter remains dead (inoperative) for a time of about 1 between successive counts. Its
energy resolution is about 0.5%. The ionisation chamber does not give a count of individual
particles, but an average effect of a large number of particles.

Proportional Counter

When a particle of low specific ionization passes through an ionization chamber, the pulse
produced is too small to detect. Potential difference is increased so that it works in proportional
region, in which the size of the output signal is proportional to the number of ions formed by the
primary ionization process.

The proportional counter consists of a cylindrical gas filled tube with a very thin central wire,
which is insulated from the tube. The central wire is always made positive with respect to the
metallic cylindrical tube and serves as a collecting electrode which is connected to a pulse
amplifier. The tube is filled with methane and approximately 20% argon, the first to improve
stability and the second to raise the amplification factor (The number of ion pairs formed by
collision as each electron travels toward the central wire is known as the multiplication factor or
gas amplification factor). Multiplication factor depends on the anode radius, radius of the
cathode, voltage and the nature and pressure of the gas. If a potential difference is applied
across anode wire of radius a and cylindrical cathode of radius , the electric field , at a radial
distance is given by

When a charged particle is incident on such a detector, it produces ion pairs along the trajectory
of the particle. For 1000 volts, 1.0 and a = 1.0 mm the field strength at the
central wire is 6.7 10 .
The ion pairs produced are accelerated through such a high electric field which causes gas
multiplication (production of secondary ions). The electrodes collect respective negative and
positive ions and the total ionization current produces a pulse through the resistor. As the height
of the pulse is proportional to the energy of the incident particle, it can be used to estimate the
energy of the particle. The number of particles incident per unit time or intensity can be
estimated from the number of pulses produced per unit time
 20
0

Geigerr Muller Counter

C

G. M. tubes
t have been madee in a great variety of sizes and shapes,
s fromm to in
n
length and
a from to in diaameter. Thee walls can n be of metal (copper), a metallicc
cylinderr may be su upported innside a glasss tube, or tthe interior surface of the glass tu ube may bee
coated with a thin n layer of ana electricaal conducto or (for exam mple, silverr). The cenntral wire iss
usually of tungsten n with a thicckness of to . The waall thicknesss of the tubee
is goverrned by the nature of particles to be
b detected.
A thick kness corresponding to of wall area readilyy passes gammma rays butb blocks
and particles.
p W
With a glass wall
w of , alll the gammma rays and most of thee particless
are trannsmitted, buut the partticles are ex
xcluded. To receive -particles,
- thhe counter must
m have a
still thin
nner wall, and
a be equip pped with a window off thin mica, stainless stteel or plio fllm, with a
density of .

A high resistance R is connected in seriies betweenn the axial anode

a and cathode. Th he potentiall
nce developed at the en
differen nds of R is sent
s to a couunter throug
gh a circuit containing
c a condenserr
C and a resistance R'. The coondenser C obstructs th
he d.c. compponent of thhe potential developed
d
across R in going to
t the counter.

Since thhe potential differencee across thee electrodess corresponds to regionn V, even a minimum m
ionizing
g particle pproduces a large
l ionizaation pulse because off Townsendd avalanchee. The main n
differen
nce between n proportionnal and G. M. M counter iis that in th
he former, thhe avalanchhe is formedd
only at one point whereas
w in th
he latter thee avalanche spreads aloong the whoole length off the centrall
wire. The
T amplificcation doess not thereffore depend d on the in nitial ionizaation produ
uced by thee
ionizing
g particle.

After thhe avalanchhe, the electtrons get co ollected at the

t anode in n a short tim
me and leavee
behind a positive ssheath of io ons which drift slowly toward the cathode. Thhe counter comes
c backk
in its orriginal statee after all the charges have
h been clleared from
m the active space. This situation iss
 21
1

created when the positive ionns are eitheer collectedd by the caathode or geet neutralizzed in somee
secondaary quenchiing process.

Scintilllation Coounter

When ana electrommagnetic rad diation is inncident on certain

c mateerials, it cann emit lightt due to thee
phenommenon of fl flourescencee. The inciident radiattion (like rays) exccite the ato oms of thee
fluoresccent materiaal which aree then de-ex xcited in a very short time
t and it results in th
he emission n
of photons in the visible
v or ultra-violet
u r
radiation. S
Such materials are know wn as scinttillators and
d
the photons producced are calleed scintillattions.

Scintillaation countter is a deviice used for detecting radiations like annd rays by b means off
fluoresccence. The scintillation
ns produced d are converrted into ammplified elecctrical pulsees by meanss
of a phootomultiplieer tube and are then reccorded electtronically.

The sellection of th he scintillator depends upon the rradiation to be detectedd. For particles, zincc
sulphide in the foorm of a thin t crystal is used. F For partiicles, a cry
ystal of antthracene orr
naphthaalene is com mmonly em mployed, wh hile for y raays a crystall of NaI (Tll) is used. One
O type off
scintillaation counteer is shown below.

A suitabble scintillaator crystal is fitted to the

t end of a photomulttiplier tube through a light pipe. Itt
is shiellded from all stray light by an aluminium m casing. The radiation entering the crystall
producees a tiny flash of light, due to fluorrescence. (T The atoms and
a moleculles are first excited and
d
de-excitte in a shoort time to s). The pphotons travvel through
h the light pipe to thee
photo-mmultiplier tu ube and faall on a traansparent ph hotosensitiv
ve layer (pphotocathod
de), ejecting
g
photoellectrons. Th he tube hass many elecctrodes callled 'dynodees' to whichh progressiv vely higherr
potentiaals are appliied. The photo-electron ns are pulled to the dyn
node 1 where a number (4 to 5) off
 22

secondary electrons are emitted for each primary photoelectron. These in turn are pulled to
dynode 2, 3, 6 in succession where electrons get multiplied due to secondary emission. Finally a
highly amplified electrical pulse is delivered at the anode where it is amplified and after
discrimination from the noise level pulses it is given to the recording scalars and counters.

Semiconductor Detectors

These are based on the principle that if an energetic particle is incident on a reverse biased
junction, it releases electron hole pairs from the depletion layer and an electric potential
difference applied across the junction collects these electrons and holes to produce an electric
pulse. The electrons and holes collected by the respective electrodes send an electric pulse of
about 10 with a short rise time of about 10 to 10 s across the external resistance .
These pulses are linearly amplified and recorded by counters for detecting the incoming radiation
and measure its intensity. The energy spectrum of the incoming radiation can be obtained by
using a single channel or multichannel pulse height analyzer. Most semiconductor junction
detectors fall into three categories according to the formation of junction.
1. Diffused junction detector
2. Surface barrier detector
3. Lithium ion drifted junction detector

Track Detectors

The Wilson Cloud Chamber

The Wilson cloud chamber can be used for photographing the tracks of -particles, particles
and secondary ionization effects due to the passage of -rays or -rays.

It is based on the principle that when a charged particle passes through a supersaturated vapour,
it produces ionization along the trajectory of the particle and droplets are formed on the ions due
to condensation of vapour. A gas (air) mixed with saturated vapour, either of water, or alcohol or
ether is contained in a cylindrical vessel. When gas is allowed to expand adiabatically, a
considerable fall in temperature takes place and the space becomes supersaturated with vapour.
The excess of vapour will condense on the ions formed due to passage of the particle through the
gas. Due to condensation, a cloud is formed and if it is properly illuminated, the track appears as
a white line on a dark background which can be photographed by means of a camera.
 3
23

A simp plified form

m of a cloud d chamber is i shown beelow. It con nsists of a transparentt cylindricall
chambeer CC in wh hich a piston n P is fitted
d at the botttom. On thee top of the cylindrical chamber iss
an opticcally-flat glaass plate G and a cameera from thee top views inside the cchamber. Th his chamberr
is illustrrated from a side with the help of a strong ligght source.

urated with given liquid

Air satu d is taken in
n the space bbetween thee movable piston
p P andd glass platee
G. The pressure in nside the chamber is kept high. The pressu ure in the cchamber is lowered by y
movingg the piston n down su uddenly, wiith the resu ult the vollume of thhe expansio on chamberr
increasees. The adiaabatic expannsion resultts in coolingg and conseequent supeer saturation n of vapour,
with apppearance of o cloud in n chamber. The track ks can be seen by tthe eye, bu ut normally y
photogrraphic arranngement is made usin ng intense light.
l A smmall electricc field of fewf volts iss
provideed within thee cloud chaamber to sweep out anyy stray ions which
w are nnot of intereest just to
avoid th
he formation n of a diffusse fog. Thiss sweep field is cut off just before expansion.

The th hickness off the track is characteristic of the particle. Alpha tracks can n be easily y
distinguuished fromm those maade by elecctrons. On an averagee, -particlles under atmospheric a c
pressuree produce aabout ion pairrs per cm in n air. On th he other hannd -particles producee
only ion pairs per
p cm. Sincce both an nd particlles lose eneergy by giving up per ion
n
pair prooduced, trracks are sh hort and thick, whereaas tracks are long annd thin. By y applying a
magnetic field to thhe chamberr the curved d tracks of thhe incident particles
p caan be photoggraphed andd
studied. (Wilson clloud chamb ber had been n earlier useed for the stuudy of cosm mic radiation
n and led to
o
the disccovery of poositron, whiich had a cu
urvature opp posite to thaat of an elecctron).

Bubblle Chamb
ber

Wilson''s cloud chaamber sufferred from the following

g drawbackss:
 24

low stopping power due to low density of vapour and its large dead-time, as. a result very
energetic particles could not be detected. This problem can be avoided if somehow stopping
power can be increased, say, by filling the chamber with a particular liquid of necessary thermal
properties.

A liquid boils at a higher temperature under high pressure. If the applied pressure is more than
the saturation vapour- pressure at that (high) temperature, the liquid will boil without formation
of vapours, that is it will be a superheated liquid. If now, the pressure is suddenly decreased,
instead of vapours, the bubbles will be formed.
Now suppose the particles to be detected are allowed to pass through the chamber so, they will
ionize the liquid bubble-atoms in the vicinity of their paths. As a consequence, those nearby
atoms will be ionized (nascent atoms), liberating few electrons with opposite momentum (may
be so called recoil-electrons). These recoil electrons cause local heating of the bubble's-surfaces
causing them to grow within a few milliseconds. At this moment, a light is flashed and the
bubbles are photographed simultaneously from many different angles and afterwards, their
spatial distribution can be obtained by stereographic reconstruction.

Generally bubble chamber is subjected to a strong magnetic field on order to distinguish the sign
of the charge on the ionizing particles and to measure their momenta from the radius of curvature
of the bubble tracks. Through most commonly used liquid in bubble chamber is liquid hydrogen,
other liquids such as deuterium, helium, xenon, etc, are used in some cases.

The schematic diagram of the bubble chamber is shown below. The main body of the chamber is
made up of stainless steel with thick glass ports at the top for viewing camera. A box of thick
walled glass is filled with the liquid hydrogen and is connected to the expansion pressure system.
In order to maintain the chamber at the constant temperature, it is surrounded by liquid nitrogen.
High energy particles are allowed to enter the chamber from a side window .
 25
5

Note: Missing
M tracks in the ph
hotograph reepresent neu
utral particlles.

The Bubble
B Ch
hamber haas followiing Advan
ntages

i. Duee to high deensity of liqquid (as commpared to air),

a a largee number of nuclei aree
pressent in a giv
ven path to interact witth the incomming particlle. Consequ
uently, largee
yiellds of even nts occur within
w the bubble
b cham
mber, whichh enables high
h energyy
inteeractions to be examineed in a greatt detail.
ii. Thee tracks aree very clearly defineed, becausee the bubbles grow rapidly r and
d
difffusion within the liquid
d is very smaall.
iii. Thee chamber iss sensitive to
t particles of
o low ionizzing ability..
iv. Theere is an abssence of bacckground duue to old traacks
v. Thee recycling time
t is only
y a few secoonds.

Nucleaar Emulsiion Techn

nique

Charged d particles interact witth photograaphic emulssions in the same way as photonss; hence thee
emulsioons can be used for reecording thee tracks of charged paarticles. As charged paarticles passs
throughh a photograaphic emulssion of a ph hotographic plate they interact
i witth the tiny silver
s halidee
crystalss producing a line of lattent imagess along theirr path.
 26

The optical photographic emulsion is not suitable for quantitative work with nuclear radiations.
The sensitivity is low and the tracks due to charged particles have non-clear range because the
developed crystals grains are large and widely spaced. The composition of the emulsion has to be
changed to make it suitable for study of various ionizing particles such particles, protons,
mesons and electrons etc. The table shows a comparison of nuclear and optical emulsions.

Because of larger density and large Z number the stopping power of emulsions for high energy
particles is much better than an ordinary cloud chamber. When a particle passes through an
emulsion plate or a stack of plates it reduces the silver and after developing, the path of the
particles is made visible under a microscope. With a binocular microscope a three dimensional
view of a particle and its associated reactions or interactions can be obtained. Different
commercially available emulsions differing chiefly in grain size, are used to discriminate
between different particles.

In cosmic ray research, the nuclear emulsion plate offers the advantage of simplicity. These
plates can be readily taken to mountain tops or sent up to great altitudes in balloons or satellites
for recording primary cosmic ray phenomena. For the study of machine produced reactions, the
energetic particles are passed through a stack of emulsion and the tracks thus produced are
analysed for identification of the mass and charge of the resulting events.

Advantages of Nuclear Emulsion Detectors

i. These detectors have a large stopping power for highly energetic particles and
these provide a continuously sensitive medium for permanent record of events
involving low, medium and high energy.
ii. These detectors can measure a large number of parameters of most of the particles
including estimation of charge, mass, energy, life time etc.
iii. Nuclear emulsion detectors have excellent spatial resolution ~ 0.5 µm and high
angular resolution ~10 radian which is invariably required for accurate
measurements inhigh energy interactions involving multiple particle production.
iv. The emulsion is relatively light and cheap. This makes it better for high altitude
cosmic ray experiments.
v. They were widely employed in cosmic ray studies and led to the discovery of the
and -mesons
 27
7

Spark Ch
hamber

The spaark chambeer utilizes all incipient electrical ddischarge in

n a gas likee that used in a Geigerr
counterr and to givve track geo
ometry inforrmation, likke that provvided by a bbubble chammber. Thus,
spark chamber dettector is cap pable of co
ounting partticles with a high counnt rate as well
w as with h
high spaatial resoluttion.

The wo orking princciple is as follows.

fo A high
h voltagee is maintaiined betweeen two platees placed in
n
an inertt gas but thee electric fieeld is insuff
fficient to peermit the paassage of sppark. When an ionizing
g
particlee enters the ggas space, a spark passses and tend ds to follow
w the path off ion pairs produced
p by
y
the partticle. Thus tthe path off the particlee is markedd by the spaark and can be photogrraphed with h
the helpp of automaatic operatio on of the insstrument.

The insstrument con nsists of a series

s of thiin parallel pplates spaceed about to apart. Thee
first, third, fifth annd all other odd numbeer plates aree grounded and the seccond, fourthh, sixth andd
all even n number plates are co onnected to a high volttage dc pulse generatoor so that a field of thee
order off is maintained
m b
between adjjacent pairss of plates.

The plaates are maade of brasss, lead or other heavvy conductting materiaals to detecct gammas,
neutronns and neutrrinos which t produce charged parrticles. The gas used iss
h interact in the plates to
helium--neon mixtu ure at aboutt an atmospheric pressuure. The hig
gh voltage iis almost, but
b not quitee
sufficieent to produ
uce a disch harge betweeen a pair of adjacen nt plates. A trail of io onization iss
 8
28

produceed by an inncident chaarged particcle. If the (pulse)

( volttage is appllied in a frraction of a
microseecond durring which electrons ini this trail are free (bbefore attaching to gass
molecules), a smaall localized d spark discharge occcurs along the t particlee's path (Thhe ions and d
ns producedd are acceleerated to su
electron uch energiees in the eleectric field that they can
c producee
successsive multipliication due to secondarry collisionss).

The po ower supply y is cut offf in about by discharging a conden nser after thhe spark iss
produceed. A sweepping field of o about 20 00 volts perr cm is continuously aapplied in th he direction
n
opposite to that off the high voltage
v sparrk field to prepare
p the detector for the detecttion of nextt
particlee. The delay
y time is abo out . The recoveery time dep pends on thee gas, the design of thee
chambeer and the en nergy of thee spark, andd it is usuallyy between to . (This recov
very time iss
very shhort in compparison to that
t of clouud and bubbble chamberrs). Series oof sparks arre produced d
which follow
f the trracks of thee particles an
nd the trackks are photo
ographed byy stereoscopic cameras.

Ceren
nkov Coun
nter

Ceren
nkov Radiiation

A charrged particlee, traversing g a medium

m with refracctive index with a veelocity ex xceeding thee
velocity
y of light in that medium, emits
e a chaaracteristic electromaggnetic radiaation, called
d
Cherenk kov radiation. Cheren nkov radiatiion is emittted becausse the charrged particlle polarizess
atoms along
a its traack so that they
t becom
me electric dipoles.
d Thee time variaation of the dipole field
d
leads to
o the emissio on of electrromagnetic radiation.
r T radiatio
This on spreads oout in the medium fromm
the dipo
ole where itt originated..

For a paarticle traveelling with velocity

v lesss than the velocity
v of liight in the medium,
m thee
wave frront of Cherrenkov radiiation origin nating fromm different dipoles
d are unable
u to giive interferee
and pro oduce a co onstructive interferencee. i.e. The wave fron nts of the eelectromagn netic wavess
resultin
ng from the iinteraction are not inteerrelated andd are entirelly independdent.
 29
9

But, if the velociity is largeer than thee velocity of light in the meedium, then n
constructive interfeerence of th
he wave fron ble. It makes Cherenko
nts is possib ov radiation detectable.
The waave front off the radiation that prooduce a connstructive interference
i e is conical with axisn
n
is same the directioon of the paarticle.

Above figure show ws the interractions wheen . The wav ve fronts froom 1 and 2 lie inside 3
at the tiime of third
d interaction. The Huy ygen's consttruction of wave opticcs shows thaat a conicall
wave frront can bee drawn tan ngent to thee spherical surfaces an nd the Cereenkov radiaation can bee
observeed at a particcular angle with respecct to the direection of mo
otion of thee particle.

The parrticle movess along . It radiatees energy inn all directio

ons from thhe points alo
ong its path
h
ABC. The
T time in which
w particcle travels a distance , the radiaation will m move a distaance
is thus the wave front.
f The angle whicch the Cereenkov radiaation makess with the direction d off
chargedd particle is given by

The vallue of can

n be estimatted by meassuring the value
v of by
y optical meethods.

Photo multiplier
m ( ) tube can be used d to detect radiation. If
I the momeentum or en
nergy of thee
particlee is known itt is possiblee to estimatee the value of .

The Ch herenkov deetectors are commonly y used for iindenting particles in cconjunction
n with trackk
detectorrs. Also Chherenkov deetectors can be used in three differrent modes,, if the refraactive index
x
of the detectors
d meedium is carrefully seleccted.
These modes
m are
i. Threshoold Cherenk kov detectorrs
ii. Differen
ntial Cherennkov detecttors
iii. Ring im
maging Cherrenkov deteectors
 30

Threshold Cherenkov Detectors

This type consists simply a radiator and a light detector (usually P.M.T). In this particles. In this
case, particles with velocity greater than the threshold velocity for the generation of the
Cherenkov radiation are detected.
For a counter filled with material of refractive index , the threshold momentum, for a particle
with mass is given by

√ 1
If a gas is used as radiator then it is possible to tune the detector to match the velocity of the
particles with ⁄ by adjusting the pressure of the gas.
Note: The refractive index of the gas depend on the pressure ,
1 1

Where and refer to an atmosphere measures.

Differential Cherenkov Detectors

This accept Cherenkov radiation only in a narrow range of angles, ∆ . In other word, in a
narrow velocity interval.
∆
Resolution of the order 10 can be obtained by using this detector. A chromatic dispersion
is the major source of the error at high momenta. A special type of achromatic counters called
Directional isochronous self collimating ( DISC) counters has been developed. This design is
∆
capable to give the resolution ~10 10 .