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A Geiger counter (/ ˈ ɡ aɪ ɡ ər /, GY-gər; [1] also known as a Geiger–Müller counter or G-M counter) is an electronic instrument used for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation. It is widely used in applications such as radiation dosimetry , radiological protection , experimental physics and the nuclear industry .
The Geiger–Müller tube or G–M tube is the sensing element of the Geiger counter instrument used for the detection of ionizing radiation. It is named after Hans Geiger , who invented the principle in 1908, [ 1 ] and Walther Müller , who collaborated with Geiger in developing the technique further in 1928 to produce a practical tube that ...
Geiger–Müller tubes are the primary components of Geiger counters. They operate at an even higher voltage, selected such that each ion pair creates an avalanche, but by the emission of UV photons, multiple avalanches are created which spread along the anode wire, and the adjacent gas volume ionizes from as little as a single ion pair event.
Scientists invented the Geiger counter, which measures radioactivity, while working on experiments to prove that the center of an atom contains a nucleus.
This provided a real-time dynamic indication of the radiation rate, and the principle has found widespread use in Health Physics and as radiation Survey meter. An instrument which totalises the events detected over a time period is known as a scaler. This colloquial name stems from the early days of automatic counting, when a scaling circuit ...
Geiger-Müller counter with dual counts/dose rate display measuring a "point source". The dose per count is known for this specific instrument by calibration. The count rates of cps and cpm are generally accepted and convenient practical rate measurements. They are not SI units, but are de facto radiological units of measure in widespread use.
Scintillation counters are widely used in radiation protection, assay of radioactive materials and physics research because they can be made inexpensively yet with good quantum efficiency, and can measure both the intensity and the energy of incident radiation.
Geiger–Müller counters use an even higher electric field so that UV-photons are created. [28] These start new avalanches, eventually resulting in a total ionization of the gas around the anode wire. This makes the signal very strong, but causes a dead time after each event and makes it impossible to measure the X-ray energies. [29]
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