Dose calculation for oscilloscope

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the feasibility of calculating radiation dose from oscilloscope output voltage pulses, particularly using various detectors. Ion chambers can effectively measure dose by calculating the total charge transferred, represented by the area under the curve or pulse height on the oscilloscope trace. However, Geiger counters and commercial PMT/scintillator combinations are unsuitable for this purpose due to design limitations and potential damage from high exposures. Solid-state detectors, particularly when calibrated with longer pulse widths, may offer viable alternatives for measuring nanosecond pulses.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of ion chamber operation and charge transfer measurement
  • Familiarity with oscilloscope trace analysis and pulse height measurement
  • Knowledge of solid-state detector functionality and calibration techniques
  • Awareness of radiation measurement standards and instrumentation
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  • Research ion chamber calibration techniques for accurate dose measurement
  • Explore the use of solid-state detectors in radiation applications
  • Learn about oscilloscope settings for capturing fast pulse signals
  • Investigate the effects of ion recombination in ion chambers for nanosecond pulses
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Radiation physicists, instrumentation engineers, and anyone involved in radiation dose measurement and analysis using oscilloscopes and various detector technologies.

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If pulse source output is recorded by a detector on oscilloscope, is it possible to calculate dose from this output voltage pulse?
 
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That depends on the detector and any amplifier. For an ion chamber it would be the total charge transferred, which would be the area under the curve on an oscilloscope trace under some circumstances, or the height of the pulse in others.

A Geiger counter tube would not work. Some other forms of detector might work, but interpreting the result might be challenging.
 
Alex A said:
That depends on the detector and any amplifier. For an ion chamber it would be the total charge transferred, which would be the area under the curve on an oscilloscope trace under some circumstances, or the height of the pulse in others.

A Geiger counter tube would not work. Some other forms of detector might work, but interpreting the result might be challenging.
In case of PMT or other solid state detector?
 
A commercial PMT/Scintillator would probably fail to work. Counters are usually designed with high value resistor chains to save power and with small value capacitors close to the anode. These saturate easily. Spectroscopy grade combinations would probably damage themselves at fairly low exposures.

If you are measuring the dose within the beam I would expect a strong pulse of light from the scintillator. Much more than would be a good fit for a PMT.

A reverse biased diode would probably give a signal, but at these power levels there may be a lot of nonlinear effects. A scintillator connected to a photodiode by a light pipe or fiber optic cable might work well.

I'm bothered that you seem to be trying to reinvent the wheel for instrumentation for a very dangerous device.
 
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Dear Alex, very thanks for sharing your experience.
 
Why use an oscilloscope? An ion chamber and a DVM works and is standard for dose measurement of x/gamma radiation.
 
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So far as I know ion chamber is gaseous detector having response tim in micro second, how is it possible to measure a pulse dose of nano second pulse using ion chamber ??
 
You didn't say nanoseconds. It works for microseconds for sure. The problem with nsec. pulses is ion recombination. A solid-state detector can be used, I think, instead of an IC, but can be calibrated with a longer pulse width beam relative to an IC.

Just found this for ICs https://www.drct.com/Ion_Chambers/TBM-IC-Pulse-X.html
 
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