An Energy-Adaptive Geiger-Muller Detector Development

Geiger Muller counters have been widely used for detecting radiation because of their low price and ease of use. Canberra Company has been designing and manufacturing Energy Compensated GM detectors in a number of configurations for use in radiation monitoring and field characterization. However, while measuring radiation activity, these gadgets have a problem due to the detector's excessive reaction in the low energy range, i.e. 20—250 keV. One of the most often used Geiger Muller counters in industry is the T2416A.

This instrument serves dual purposes as a survey meter and a calibration device for other survey meters in areas with high levels of gamma radiation. Equipment like the Inspector 1000 and the RadiaGem system are examples of this category. The low-energy region of the T2416A GM detector shows a 6-40 fold over sensitivity compared to 137Cs energy (i.e. 662 keV). To achieve a more uniform output, a Geiger Muller counter with energy compensation was designed for this study. To this end, a multi-component filtering material with adjustable thicknesses has been created.

Measurements were taken both with and without filtering materials at photon energies up to 250 keV, and the detector's response was modeled using a variety of materials. Multiple simulations and experiments have been analyzed and compared.