ORTEC radEAGLE - Page 126

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Glossary radEAGLE User Manual

Neutron detector This item is available for radEAGLE models with a neutron detector

(see E.1, p. 135).

Several neutron detector designs exist. The

He-tube is the most eﬃcient detector

for its size. It is similar in size to the Geiger-Müller tube, but it utilizes

He gas that is

in limited supply. Due to this limited supply, the gas prices have risen and it became

much more expensive in the past years.

Scintillation detector The primary detector for radiation used by the radEAGLE is the scin-

tillation detector. The scintillation detector consists of a crystal coupled to a photo-

multiplier. Once radiation passes through the scintillation crystal, atoms of the crystal

material become excited to higher energetic levels. Once they fall back onto lower en-

ergy levels, they emit light. This light is very weak and a source of light ampliﬁcation

is needed to see it. A photomultiplier is such an ampliﬁer and it allows us to observe

the light emitted inside the crystal. Additionally, the light also tells us which energy the

incident radiation had. Analyzing the photopeak energies of the peaks in the spectrum

with the radEAGLE’s advanced algorithms provides the list of radionuclides measured.