Measuring energy loss of alpha particles in different vacuum conditions

Measuring energy loss of alpha particles in different vacuum conditions 1 first-author 1 2 corresp Corresponding author. E-mail address: txg@cdut.edu.cn Corresponding author. E-mail address: txg@cdut.edu.cn txg@cdut.edu.cn 1 1 1 1 1 Provincial Key Lab of Nuclear Techniques in Geosciences, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China Provincial Key Lab of Nuclear Techniques in Geosciences, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China State Key Lab of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu 610059, China State Key Lab of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu 610059, China In this paper, energy loss of alpha particles in different vacuum levels is studied experimentally and via theoretical analysis. A better understanding of energy loss of α particle in vacuum will help detect more exact numbers of alpha particles. Two 239 Pu sources are used to measure the energy loss of α particle crossing different vacuum levels (different air pressures). The experimental data are obtained from an instrument – PAM-100 developed by authors. The experimental results have shown that increasing vacuum levels will lead to more alpha residual energy but less energy loss. When the vacuum level reaches 0.04 MPa, alpha particles ( 239 Pu, 5.115 MeV) will lose the energy of about 0.175 MeV with traversing 5 mm distance. Theoretical calculations have shown a good agreement with experimental results. This implies that the instrument has a high accuracy and could be applied in field work. Vacuum level Alpha particle Energy loss 239 Pu References Fu J . Research on long range alpha contamination instrument [D]. Chengdu University of Technology , 2008 (in Chinese) . Research on long range alpha contamination instrument Tuo X G , Li Z , Mu K L . J Nucl Sci Technol (supl) , 2008 , 45 : 282 - 285 . J Nucl Sci Technol (supl) Stella S , Bortolussi S , Bruschi P . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect B , 2009 , 267 : 2938 - 2943 . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect B Kronenberg S , Brucker G J , Cummings B . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect A , 2000 , 454 : 520 - 527 . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect A Rezentes P S , Romero J L , Castaneda C M . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect A , 1995 , 361 : 574 - 580 . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect A Kohno T , Kiyota T , Matsufuji N . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect A , 2000 , 450 : 456 - 466 . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect A Cruz S A . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect B , 2004 , 222 : 411 - 420 . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect B Yu K N , Yip C W Y , Nikezic D . Appl Radiat Isot , 2003 , 59 : 363 - 366 . Appl Radiat Isot Shi Z X , Zhang A M , Yao Q S . Calculation and experimental verification of alpha spectra under different pressure , China Nuclear Information Centre , 2000 . Calculation and experimental verification of alpha spectra under different pressure Nicholas T . Measurement and Detection of Radiation , 2 nd Edit [M]. University of Missouri-Rolla (USA) , 1995 , 146 - 149 . Measurement and Detection of Radiation Yu Y C , Hsu J Y , Chen K M . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect B , 266 : 1166 - 1169 . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect B Diwan P K , Sharma V , Kumar S . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect B , 2007 , 258 : 293 - 298 . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect B Pratibha T , Sharma V , Diwan P K , et al . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res, Sect B , 2008 , 266 : 2556 - 2563 . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res, Sect B Ammi H , Mammeri S , Allab M . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect B , 2004 , 213 : 60 - 64 . Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect B Ammi H , Zemith R , Mammeri S . Radiat Eff Defect Solids , 2006 , 161 : 339 - 346 . Radiat Eff Defect Solids 10.13538/j.1001-8042/nst.22.151-155 Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40974065) and the National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (Grant No.41025015) . 2010-11-19 2011-06-20 2021-01-19 2011 Nuclear Science and Techniques 03 22