Chapter 7
Non-conventional Detection Techniques
7.1 Introduction
This chapter is devoted to discussing a few special types of counters and techniques
for the measurement and detection of radioactive isotopes present in either small
quantity (for example, radioactivity present in food and measurement of activity
slightly greater than background activity or low activity of α-particulate radiation).
7.2 Semiconductor Detector
After the development of the theory of p−n junction, a wide variety of detectors
have come up, which use semiconductors like silicon and germanium single crystals.
These counters have attracted scientists because of their high efficiency and high
resolution to count lower energy particulate radiations as well as soft X -rays. It
would not be possible to discuss in detail the theory of semiconductor detectors, as
it will form a book by itself. Efforts will be made to explain the principle in an easier
manner to acquire the working knowledge of this detector.
7.3 Principle of Semiconductor Detectors
To understand the principle of a semiconductor detector, knowledge about it is
required.
What is a band gap in a semiconductor? When a material crystallizes, its atoms
come very close to each other so much that the electrons of the neighboring atoms
undergo an interaction in three dimensions. For example, when silicon crystallizes
into a solid form, electrons of each silicon atom interact with the electrons of other
silicon atoms. These interactions cause some uphill in the initial energy of electrons
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Sharon and M. Sharon, Nuclear Chemistry,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62018-9_7
119
Non-conventional Detection Techniques
7.1 Introduction
This chapter is devoted to discussing a few special types of counters and techniques
for the measurement and detection of radioactive isotopes present in either small
quantity (for example, radioactivity present in food and measurement of activity
slightly greater than background activity or low activity of α-particulate radiation).
7.2 Semiconductor Detector
After the development of the theory of p−n junction, a wide variety of detectors
have come up, which use semiconductors like silicon and germanium single crystals.
These counters have attracted scientists because of their high efficiency and high
resolution to count lower energy particulate radiations as well as soft X -rays. It
would not be possible to discuss in detail the theory of semiconductor detectors, as
it will form a book by itself. Efforts will be made to explain the principle in an easier
manner to acquire the working knowledge of this detector.
7.3 Principle of Semiconductor Detectors
To understand the principle of a semiconductor detector, knowledge about it is
required.
What is a band gap in a semiconductor? When a material crystallizes, its atoms
come very close to each other so much that the electrons of the neighboring atoms
undergo an interaction in three dimensions. For example, when silicon crystallizes
into a solid form, electrons of each silicon atom interact with the electrons of other
silicon atoms. These interactions cause some uphill in the initial energy of electrons
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Sharon and M. Sharon, Nuclear Chemistry,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62018-9_7
119