XENON PROPORTIONAL-SCINTILLATION DETECTOR FOR CHARGED-PARTICLES

A new approach to the design of gas proportional-scintillation detectors, especially for charged particles, is proposed. The construction of a prototype parallel plate detector fitted with field rings to permit the adjustment of the electric intensity throughout the active region of the scintillator is described. By tuning the electric field, an energy resolution of <2.7% (fwhm) is observed for the group of α-particles emitted with energies near 5.5 MeV from a 241Am source mounted on the cathode plane, and detected with an acceptance solid angle of 2π steradians. The pulses from the detector are fast, have a short duration, and their leading edges are well defined in time - suitable for fast coincidence applications. Calculations are given which suggest that with suitable technical development an energy resolution of about 0.3% (fwhm) at 5.5 MeV may be obtained with this type of detector. © 1979.