A Study of the Fluorescence of the Rare Gases Excited by Nuclear Particles. Use of the Principle for the Detection of Nuclear Radiation by Scintillation; ETUDE DE LA FLUORESCENCE DES GAZ RARES EXCITES PAR DES PARTICULES NUCLEAIRES CHARGEES. UTILISATION POUR LA DETECTION DES RAYONNEMENTS NUCLEAIRES PAR SCINTILLATION
The properties of atoms excited by the passage of alpha particles through rare gases at atmospheric pressure are first examined. A spectral analysis of the light emitted showed that certain impurities play an important part in producing the fluorescence. The light emission contains at least two components, a very short-lived one caused by the direct deexcitation of the rare gas and a relatively longer-lived one caused by energy transfer to the impurities. The measurement of the lifetime of the excited states shows that the rapid part of the pulse has a lifetime <2.25 x 10/sup -9/ sec in the case of xenon. The long-life component has a duration directly dependent on the nitrogen concentration. The study of the rare gases under the effect of an electric field made it possible to show that the amount of light produced by an alpha particle can be multiplied so that the luminescent efficiency is greater than that of NaI(Tl). The characteristics of the rare gases acting as scintillators are then examined. The most important characteristic is the absence of saturation when the intensity of the incident excitation is very large. This property, together with the very brief scintillation time, permits the study of some nuclear physics applications (heavy particle energy measurement, kinetic studies on reactors, and neutron spectroscopy). (auth)
- Research Organization:
- France. Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique. Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires, Saclay
- NSA Number:
- NSA-15-011150
- OSTI ID:
- 4085758
- Report Number(s):
- CEA-1532
- Country of Publication:
- France
- Language:
- English
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