Geiger–Müller tube

The Geiger–Müller tube or G–M tube is t he sensing element of t he Geiger count er inst rument
used for t he det ect ion of ionizing radiat ion. It is named aft er Hans Geiger, who invent ed t he
principle in 1908,[1] and Walt her Müller, who collaborat ed wit h Geiger in developing t he t echnique
furt her in 1928 t o produce a pract ical t ube t hat could det ect a number of different radiat ion
t ypes.[2][3]

A complete Geiger counter, with the Geiger–Müller tube mounted in a cylindrical enclosure connected by a cable to the
instrument.

It is a gaseous ionizat ion det ect or and uses t he Townsend avalanche phenomenon t o produce an
easily det ect able elect ronic pulse from as lit t le as a single ionizing event due t o a radiat ion
part icle. It is used for t he det ect ion of gamma radiat ion, X-rays, and alpha and bet a part icles. It
can also be adapt ed t o det ect neut rons. The t ube operat es in t he "Geiger" region of ion pair
generat ion. This is shown on t he accompanying plot for gaseous det ect ors showing ion current
against applied volt age.
While it is a robust and inexpensive det ect or, t he G–M is unable t o measure high radiat ion rat es
efficient ly, has a finit e life in high radiat ion areas and cannot measure incident radiat ion energy, so
no spect ral informat ion can be generat ed and t here is no discriminat ion bet ween radiat ion t ypes;
such as bet ween alpha and bet a part icles.

Principle of operation

Plot of ion pair current against voltage for a cylindrical gaseous radiation detector with a central wire anode.

Visualization of the spread of Townsend avalanches by means of UV photons. This mechanism allows a single ionizing
event to ionize all the gas surrounding the anode by triggering multiple avalanches.
Detection of gamma in a G-M tube with a thick-walled stainless steel cathode. Secondary electrons generated in the wall
can reach the fill gas to produce avalanches. This effect is considerably attentuated at low energies below about 20 KeV
[4]

A G-M t ube consist s of a chamber filled wit h a gas mixt ure at a low pressure of about 0.1
at mosphere. The chamber cont ains t wo elect rodes, bet ween which t here is a pot ent ial
difference of several hundred volt s. The walls of t he t ube are eit her met al or have t heir inside
surface coat ed wit h a conduct ing mat erial or a spiral wire t o form t he cat hode, while t he anode
is a wire mount ed axially in t he cent er of t he chamber.

When ionizing radiat ion st rikes t he t ube, some molecules of t he fill gas are ionized direct ly by t he
incident radiat ion, and if t he t ube cat hode is an elect rical conduct or, such as st ainless st eel,
indirect ly by means of secondary elect rons produced in t he walls of t he t ube, which migrat e int o
t he gas. This creat es posit ively charged ions and free elect rons, known as ion pairs, in t he gas.
The st rong elect ric field creat ed by t he volt age across t he t ube's elect rodes accelerat es t he
posit ive ions t owards t he cat hode and t he elect rons t owards t he anode. Close t o t he anode in
t he "avalanche region" where t he elect ric field st rengt h rises inversely proport ional t o radial
dist ance as t he anode is approached, free elect rons gain sufficient energy t o ionize addit ional
gas molecules by collision and creat e a large number of elect ron avalanches. These spread along
t he anode and effect ively t hroughout t he avalanche region. This is t he "gas mult iplicat ion" effect
which gives t he t ube it s key charact erist ic of being able t o produce a significant out put pulse
from a single original ionizing event .[5]

If t here were t o be only one avalanche per original ionizing event , t hen t he number of excit ed
molecules would be in t he order of 106 t o 108. However t he product ion of multiple avalanches
result s in an increased mult iplicat ion fact or which can produce 109 t o 1010 ion pairs.[5] The
creat ion of mult iple avalanches is due t o t he product ion of UV phot ons in t he original avalanche,
which are not affect ed by t he elect ric field and move lat erally t o t he axis of t he anode t o
inst igat e furt her ionizing event s by collision wit h gas molecules. These collisions produce furt her
avalanches, which in t urn produce more phot ons, and t hereby more avalanches in a chain react ion
which spreads lat erally t hrough t he fill gas, and envelops t he anode wire. The accompanying
diagram shows t his graphically. The speed of propagat ion of t he avalanches is t ypically 2–4 cm
per microsecond, so t hat for common sizes of t ubes t he complet e ionizat ion of t he gas around
t he anode t akes just a few microseconds.[5]
This short , int ense pulse of current can be measured
as a count event in t he form of a volt age pulse developed across an ext ernal elect rical resist or.
This can be in t he order of volt s, t hus making furt her elect ronic processing simple.

The discharge is t erminat ed by t he collect ive effect of t he posit ive ions creat ed by t he
avalanches. These ions have lower mobilit y t han t he free elect rons due t o t heir higher mass and
move slowly from t he vicinit y of t he anode wire. This creat es a "space charge" which
count eract s t he elect ric field t hat is necessary for cont inued avalanche generat ion. For a
part icular t ube geomet ry and operat ing volt age t his t erminat ion always occurs when a cert ain
number of avalanches have been creat ed, t herefore t he pulses from t he t ube are always of t he
same magnit ude regardless of t he energy of t he init iat ing part icle. Consequent ly, t here is no
radiat ion energy informat ion in t he pulses[5] which means t he Geiger–Muller t ube cannot be used
t o generat e spect ral informat ion about t he incident radiat ion. In pract ice t he t erminat ion of t he
avalanche is improved by t he use of "quenching" t echniques (see lat er).

Pressure of t he fill gas is import ant in t he generat ion of avalanches. Too low a pressure and t he
efficiency of int eract ion wit h incident radiat ion is reduced. Too high a pressure, and t he “mean
free pat h” for collisions bet ween accelerat ed elect rons and t he fill gas is t oo small, and t he
elect rons cannot gat her enough energy bet ween each collision t o cause ionizat ion of t he gas.
The energy gained by elect rons is proport ional t o t he rat io “e/p”, where “e” is t he elect ric field
st rengt h at t hat point in t he gas, and “p” is t he gas pressure.[5]

Types of tube

Broadly, t here are t wo main t ypes of Geiger t ube const ruct ion.

End window type

Schematic of a Geiger counter using an "end window" tube for low-penetrating radiation. A loudspeaker is also used for
indication

For alpha part icles, low energy bet a part icles, and low energy X-rays, t he usual form is a
cylindrical end-window tube. This t ype has a window at one end covered in a t hin mat erial
t hrough which low-penet rat ing radiat ion can easily pass. Mica is a commonly used mat erial due t o
it s low mass per unit area. The ot her end houses t he elect rical connect ion t o t he anode.

Pancake tube

Pancake G–M tube, the circular concentric anode can clearly be seen.

The pancake tube is a variant of t he end window t ube, but which is designed for use for bet a
and gamma cont aminat ion monit oring. It has roughly t he same sensit ivit y t o part icles as t he end
window t ype, but has a flat annular shape so t he largest window area can be ut ilized wit h a
minimum of gas space. Like t he cylindrical end window t ube, mica is a commonly used window
mat erial due t o it s low mass per unit area. The anode is normally mult i-wired in concent ric circles
so it ext ends fully t hroughout t he gas space.

Windowless type

This general t ype is dist inct from t he dedicat ed end window t ype, but has t wo main sub-t ypes,
which use different radiat ion int eract ion mechanisms t o obt ain a count .

Thick walled

A selection of thick walled stainless steel G–M tubes for gamma detection. The largest has an energy compensation ring;
the others are not energy compensated

Used for gamma radiat ion det ect ion above energies of about 25 KeV, t his t ype generally has an
overall wall t hickness of about 1-2 mm of chrome st eel. Because most high energy gamma
phot ons will pass t hrough t he low densit y fill gas wit hout int eract ing, t he t ube uses t he
int eract ion of phot ons on t he molecules of t he wall mat erial t o produce high energy secondary
elect rons wit hin t he wall. Some of t hese elect rons are produced close enough t o t he inner wall
of t he t ube t o escape int o t he fill gas. As soon as t his happens t he elect ron drift s t o t he anode
and an elect ron avalanche occurs as t hough t he free elect ron had been creat ed wit hin t he gas.[5]
The avalanche is a secondary effect of a process t hat st art s wit hin t he t ube wall wit h t he
product ion of elect rons t hat migrat e t o t he inner surface of t he t ube wall, and t hen ent er t he fill
gas. This effect is considerably at t ent uat ed at low energies below about 20 KeV [4]

Thin walled

Thin walled t ubes are used for:

 High energy bet a det ect ion, where t he bet a ent ers via t he side of t he t ube and int eract s
direct ly wit h t he gas, but t he radiat ion has t o be energet ic enough t o penet rat e t he t ube wall.
Low energy bet a, which would penet rat e an end window, would be st opped by t he t ube wall.

Low energy gamma and X-ray det ect ion. The lower energy phot ons int eract bet t er wit h t he fill
gas so t his design concent rat es on increasing t he volume of t he fill gas by using a long t hin
walled t ube and does not use t he int eract ion of phot ons in t he t ube wall. The t ransit ion from
t hin walled t o t hick walled design t akes place at t he 300–400 keV energy levels. Above t hese
levels t hick walled designs are used, and beneat h t hese levels t he direct gas ionizat ion effect
is predominant .

Neutron detection

G–M t ubes will not det ect neut rons since t hese do not ionize t he gas. However, neut ron-
sensit ive t ubes can be produced which eit her have t he inside of t he t ube coat ed wit h boron, or
t he t ube cont ains boron t rifluoride or helium-3 as t he fill gas. The neut rons int eract wit h t he
boron nuclei, producing alpha part icles, or direct ly wit h t he helium-3 nuclei producing hydrogen
and t rit ium ions and elect rons. These charged part icles t hen t rigger t he normal avalanche
process.

Gas mixtures

The component s of t he gas mixt ure are vit al t o t he operat ion and applicat ion of a G-M t ube. The
mixt ure is composed of an inert gas such as helium, argon or neon which is ionized by incident
radiat ion, and a "quench" gas of 5–10% of an organic vapor or a halogen gas t o prevent spurious
pulsing by quenching t he elect ron avalanches.[5] This combinat ion of gases is known as a Penning
mixt ure and makes use of t he Penning ionizat ion effect .

The modern halogen-filled G–M t ube was invent ed by Sidney H. Liebson in 1947 and has several
advant ages over t he older t ubes wit h organic mixt ures.[6] The halogen t ube discharge t akes
advant age of a met ast able st at e of t he inert gas at om t o more-readily ionize a halogen
molecule t han an organic vapor, enabling t he t ube t o operat e at much lower volt ages, t ypically
400–600 volt s inst ead of 900–1200 volt s. While halogen-quenched t ubes have great er plat eau
volt age slopes compared t o organic-quenched t ubes (an undesirable qualit y), t hey have a vast ly
longer life t han t ubes quenched wit h organic compounds. This is because an organic vapor is
gradually dest royed by t he discharge process, giving organic-quenched t ubes a useful life of
around 109 event s. However, halogen ions can recombine over t ime, giving halogen-quenched
t ubes an effect ively unlimit ed lifet ime for most uses, alt hough t hey will st ill event ually fail at
some point due t o ot her ionizat ion-init iat ed processes t hat limit t he lifet ime of all Geiger t ubes.
For t hese reasons, t he halogen-quenched t ube is now t he most common.[5]

Neon is t he most common filler gas. Chlorine is t he most common quencher, t hough bromine is
occasionally used as well. Halogens are most commonly used wit h neon, argon or krypt on,
organic quenchers wit h helium.[7]

An example of a gas mixt ure, used primarily in proport ional det ect ors, is P10 (90% argon, 10%
met hane).
Anot her is used in bromine-quenched t ubes, t ypically 0.1% argon, 1-2% bromine, and
t he balance of neon.

Halogen quenchers are highly chemically react ive and at t ack t he mat erials of t he elect rodes,
especially at elevat ed t emperat ures, leading t o t ube performance degradat ion over t ime. The
cat hode mat erials can be chosen from e.g. chromium, plat inum, or nickel-copper alloy,[8] or
coat ed wit h colloidal graphit e, and suit ably passivat ed. Oxygen plasma t reat ment can provide a
passivat ion layer on st ainless st eel. Dense non-porous coat ing wit h plat inum or a t ungst en layer
or a t ungst en foil liner can provide prot ect ion here.[9]

Pure noble gases exhibit t hreshold volt ages increasing wit h increasing at omic weight . Addit ion of
polyat omic organic quenchers increases t hreshold volt age, due t o dissipat ion of large
percent age of collisions energy in molecular vibrat ions. Argon wit h alcohol vapors was one of t he
most common fills of early t ubes. As lit t le as 1 ppm of impurit ies (argon, mercury, and krypt on in
neon) can significant ly lower t he t hreshold volt age. Admixt ure of chlorine or bromine provides
quenching and st abilit y t o low-volt age neon-argon mixt ures, wit h wide t emperat ure range. Lower
operat ing volt ages lead t o longer rise t imes of pulses, wit hout appreciably changing t he dead
t imes.

Spurious pulses are caused most ly by secondary elect rons emit t ed by t he cat hode due t o
posit ive ion bombardment . The result ing spurious pulses have t he nat ure of a relaxat ion oscillat or
and show uniform spacing, dependent on t he t ube fill gas and overvolt age. At high enough
overvolt ages, but st ill below t he onset of cont inuous corona discharges, sequences of
t housands of pulses can be produced. Such spurious count s can be suppressed by coat ing t he
cat hode wit h higher work funct ion mat erials, chemical passivat ion, lacquer coat ing, et c.

The organic quenchers can decompose t o smaller molecules (et hyl alcohol and et hyl acet at e) or
polymerize int o solid deposit s (t ypical for met hane). Degradat ion product s of organic molecules
may or may not have quenching propert ies. Larger molecules degrade t o more quenching
product s t han small ones; t ubes quenched wit h amyl acet at e t end t o have t en t imes higher
lifet ime t han et hanol ones. Tubes quenched wit h hydrocarbons oft en fail due t o coat ing of t he
elect rodes wit h polymerizat ion product s, before t he gas it self can be deplet ed; simple gas refill
won't help, washing t he elect rodes t o remove t he deposit s is necessary. Low ionizat ion
efficiency is somet imes deliberat ely sought ; mixt ures of low pressure hydrogen or helium wit h
organic quenchers are used in some cosmic rays experiment s, t o det ect heavily ionizing muons
and elect rons.

Argon, krypt on and xenon are used t o det ect soft x-rays, wit h increasing absorpt ion of low
energy phot ons wit h decreasing at omic mass, due t o direct ionizat ion by phot oelect ric effect .
Above 60-70 keV t he direct ionizat ion of t he filler gas becomes insignificant , and secondary
phot oelect rons, Compt on elect rons or elect ron-posit ron pair product ion by int eract ion of t he
gamma phot ons wit h t he cat hode mat erial become t he dominant ionizat ion init iat ion
mechanisms. Tube windows can be eliminat ed by put t ing t he samples direct ly inside t he t ube, or,
if gaseous, mixing t hem wit h t he filler gas. Vacuum-t ight ness requirement can be eliminat ed by
using cont inuous flow of gas at at mospheric pressure.[10]

Geiger plateau

The characteristic curve of Geiger Muller tube response with constant radiation against varying tube voltage.

The Geiger plateau is t he volt age range in which t he G-M t ube operat es in it s correct mode,
where ionizat ion occurs along t he lengt h of t he anode. If a G–M t ube is exposed t o a st eady
radiat ion source and t he applied volt age is increased from zero, it follows t he plot of current
shown in t he "Geiger region" where t he gradient flat t ens; t his is t he Geiger plat eau.[5]

This is shown in more det ail in t he accompanying Geiger Plat eau Curve diagram. If t he t ube
volt age is progressively increased from zero t he efficiency of det ect ion will rise unt il t he most
energet ic radiat ion st art s t o produce pulses which can be det ect ed by t he elect ronics. This is
t he "st art ing volt age". Increasing t he volt age st ill furt her result s in rapidly rising count s unt il t he
"knee" or t hreshold of t he plat eau is reached, where t he rat e of increase of count s falls off. This
is where t he t ube volt age is sufficient t o allow a complet e discharge along t he anode for each
det ect ed radiat ion count , and t he effect of different radiat ion energies are equal. However, t he
plat eau has a slight slope mainly due t o t he lower elect ric fields at t he ends of t he anode
because of t ube geomet ry. As t he t ube volt age is increased, t hese fields st rengt hen t o produce
avalanches. At t he end of t he plat eau t he count rat e begins t o increase rapidly again, unt il t he
onset of cont inuous discharge where t he t ube cannot det ect radiat ion, and may be damaged.[5]

Depending on t he charact erist ics of t he specific t ube (manufact urer, size, gas t ype, et c.) t he
volt age range of t he plat eau will vary. The slope is usually expressed as percent age change of
count s per 100 V. To prevent overall efficiency changes due t o variat ion of t ube volt age, a
regulat ed volt age supply is used, and it is normal pract ice t o operat e in t he middle of t he plat eau
t o reduce t he effect of any volt age variat ions.[5][11]

Quenching and dead time

Dead time and recovery time in a Geiger Muller tube.[5] The tube can produce no further pulses during the dead time, and
only produces pulses of lesser height until the recovery time has elapsed.

The ideal G–M t ube should produce a single pulse for every single ionizing event due t o radiat ion.
It should not give spurious pulses, and should recover quickly t o t he passive st at e, ready for t he
next radiat ion event . However, when posit ive argon ions reach t he cat hode and become neut ral
at oms by gaining elect rons, t he at oms can be elevat ed t o enhanced energy levels. These at oms
t hen ret urn t o t heir ground st at e by emit t ing phot ons which in t urn produce furt her ionizat ion and
t hereby spurious secondary discharges. If not hing were done t o count eract t his, ionizat ion would
be prolonged and could even escalat e. The prolonged avalanche would increase t he "dead t ime"
when new event s cannot be det ect ed, and could become cont inuous and damage t he t ube.
Some form of quenching of t he ionizat ion is t herefore essent ial t o reduce t he dead t ime and
prot ect t he t ube, and a number of quenching t echniques are used.

Gas quenching

Self-quenching or int ernal-quenching t ubes st op t he discharge wit hout ext ernal assist ance,
originally by means of t he addit ion of a small amount of a polyat omic organic vapor originally
such as but ane or et hanol, but for modern t ubes is a halogen such as bromine or chlorine.[5]

If a poor gas quencher is int roduced t o t he t ube, t he posit ive argon ions, during t heir mot ion
t oward t he cat hode, would have mult iple collisions wit h t he quencher gas molecules and t ransfer
t heir charge and some energy t o t hem. Thus, neut ral argon at oms would be produced and t he
quencher gas ions in t heir t urn would reach t he cat hode, gain elect rons t herefrom, and move int o
excit ed st at es which would decay by phot on emission, producing t ube discharge. However,
effect ive quencher molecules, when excit ed, lose t heir energy not by phot on emission, but by
dissociat ion int o neut ral quencher molecules. No spurious pulses are t hus produced.[5]

Even wit h chemical quenching, for a short t ime aft er a discharge pulse t here is a period during
which t he t ube is rendered insensit ive and is t hus t emporarily unable t o det ect t he arrival of any
new ionizing part icle (t he so-called dead time; t ypically 50–100 microseconds). This causes a
loss of count s at sufficient ly high count rat es and limit s t he G–M t ube t o an effect ive (accurat e)
count rat e of approximat ely 103 count s per second even wit h ext ernal quenching. While a G-M
t ube is t echnically capable of reading higher count rat es before it t ruly sat urat es, t he level of
uncert aint y involved and t he risk of sat urat ion makes it ext remely dangerous t o rely upon higher
count rat e readings when at t empt ing t o calculat e an equivalent radiat ion dose rat e from t he
count rat e. A consequence of t his is t hat ion chamber inst rument s are usually preferred for
higher count rat es, however a modern ext ernal quenching t echnique can ext end t his upper limit
considerably.[5]

External quenching

Ext ernal quenching, somet imes called "act ive quenching" or "elect ronic quenching", uses
simplist ic high speed cont rol elect ronics t o rapidly remove and re-apply t he high volt age
bet ween t he elect rodes for a fixed t ime aft er each discharge peak in order t o increase t he
maximum count rat e and lifet ime of t he t ube. Alt hough t his can be used inst ead of a quench gas,
it is much more commonly used in conjunct ion wit h a quench gas.[5]

The "t ime-t o-first -count met hod" is a sophist icat ed modern implement at ion of ext ernal
quenching t hat allows for dramat ically increased maximum count rat es via t he use of st at ist ical
signal processing t echniques and much more complex cont rol elect ronics. Due t o uncert aint y in
t he count rat e int roduced by t he simplist ic implement at ion of ext ernal quenching, t he count rat e
of a Geiger t ube becomes ext remely unreliable above approximat ely 103 count s per second.
Wit h t he t ime-t o-first -count met hod, effect ive count rat es of 105 count s per second are
achievable, t wo orders of magnit ude larger t han t he normal effect ive limit . The t ime-t o-first -
count met hod is significant ly more complicat ed t o implement t han t radit ional ext ernal quenching
met hods, and as a result of t his it has not seen widespread use.[5]

Fold-back effect

One consequence of t he dead t ime effect is t he possibilit y of a high count rat e cont inually
t riggering t he t ube before t he recovery t ime has elapsed. This may produce pulses t oo small for
t he count ing elect ronics t o det ect and lead t o t he very undesirable sit uat ion whereby a G–M
count er in a very high radiat ion field is falsely indicat ing a low level. This phenomenon is known as
"fold-back". An indust ry rule of t humb is t hat t he discriminat or circuit receiving t he out put from
t he t ube should det ect down t o 1/10 of t he magnit ude of a normal pulse t o guard against t his.[4]
Addit ionally t he circuit should det ect when "pulse pile-up " has occurred, where t he apparent
anode volt age has moved t o a new DC level t hrough t he combinat ion of high pulse count and
noise. The elect ronic design of Geiger–Muller count ers must be able t o det ect t his sit uat ion and
give an alarm; it is normally done by set t ing a t hreshold for excessive t ube current .

Detection efficiency

The efficiency of det ect ion of a G–M t ube varies wit h t he t ype of incident radiat ion. Tubes wit h
t hin end windows have very high efficiencies (can be nearly 100%) for high energy bet a, t hough
t his drops off as t he bet a energy decreases due t o at t enuat ion by t he window mat erial. Alpha
part icles are also at t enuat ed by t he window. As alpha part icles have a maximum range of less
t han 50 mm in air, t he det ect ion window should be as close as possible t o t he source of radiat ion.
The at t enuat ion of t he window adds t o t he at t enuat ion of air, so t he window should have a
densit y as low as 1.5 t o 2.0 mg/cm2 t o give an accept able level of det ect ion efficiency. The
art icle on st opping power explains in more det ail t he ranges for part icles t ypes of various
energies.
The count ing efficiency of phot on radiat ion (gamma and X-rays above 25 keV) depends
on t he efficiency of radiat ion int eract ion in t he t ube wall, which increases wit h t he at omic number
of t he wall mat erial. Chromium iron is a commonly used mat erial, which gives an efficiency of
about 1% over a wide range of energies.[4]

Photon energy compensation

Comparative response curves for G-M tubes with and without gamma energy compensation

Thin-walled glass G–M tube showing a spiral wire cathode. The tape bands are for fixing compensating rings

Thin-walled glass G–M tube with energy compensating rings fitted. The complete assembly fits into the aluminum
housing.
If a G–M t ube is t o be used for gamma or X-ray dosimet ry measurement s, t he energy of incident
radiat ion, which affect s t he ionizing effect , must be t aken int o account . However pulses from a
G–M t ube do not carry any energy informat ion, and at t ribut e equal dose t o each count event .
Consequent ly, t he count rat e response of a "bare" G–M t ube t o phot ons at different energy
levels is non-linear wit h t he effect of over-reading at low energies. The variat ion in dose
response can be a fact or bet ween 5 and 15, according t o individual t ube const ruct ion; t he very
small t ubes having t he highest values.

To correct t his a t echnique known as "energy compensat ion" is applied, which consist s of adding
a shield of absorbing mat erial around t he t ube. This filt er preferent ially absorbs t he low energy
phot ons and t he dose response is "flat t ened". The aim is t hat sensit ivit y/energy charact erist ic of
t he t ube should be mat ched by t he absorpt ion/energy charact erist ic of t he filt er. This cannot be
exact ly achieved, but t he result is a more uniform response over t he st at ed range of det ect ion
energies for t he t ube.[5]

Lead and t in are commonly used mat erials, and a simple filt er effect ive above 150 keV can be
made using a cont inuous collar along t he lengt h of t he t ube. However, at lower energy levels t his
at t enuat ion can become t oo great , so air gaps are left in t he collar t o allow low energy radiat ion
t o have a great er effect . In pract ice, compensat ion filt er design is an empirical compromise t o
produce an accept ably uniform response, and a number of different mat erials and geomet ries
are used t o obt ain t he required correct ion.[4]

See also

Dosimet er

Geiger count er

Gaseous ionizat ion det ect ors

Ionizat ion chamber

St opping power of radiat ion part icles

References

1. Rutherford, E.; Geiger, H. (1908). "An electrical method of counting the number of α particles from
radioactive substances" (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frspa.1908.0065) . Proceedings of the Royal
Society. Series A. London. 81 (546): 141–161. Bibcode:1908RSPSA..81..141R (https://ui.adsabs.harvar
 d.edu/abs/1908RSPSA..81..141R) . doi:10.1098/rspa.1908.0065 (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frspa.19
08.0065) .

2. Geiger, H.; Müller, W. (1928). "Elektronenzählrohr zur Messung schwächster Aktivitäten" [Electron
counting tube for measurement of weakest radioactivities]. Die Naturwissenschaften (in German). 16
(31): 617–618. Bibcode:1928NW.....16..617G (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1928NW.....16..617
G) . doi:10.1007/BF01494093 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF01494093) . S2CID 27274269 (https://
api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:27274269) .

3. See also:
Geiger, H.; Müller, W. (1928). "Das Elektronenzählrohr" [The electron counting tube]. Physikalische
Zeitschrift (in German). 29: 839–841.
Geiger, H.; Müller, W. (1929). "Technische Bemerkungen zum Elektronenzählrohr" [Technical notes on
the electron counting tube]. Physikalische Zeitschrift (in German). 30: 489–493.
Geiger, H.; Müller, W. (1929). "Demonstration des Elektronenzählrohrs" [Demonstration of the electron
counting tube]. Physikalische Zeitschrift (in German). 30: 523 ff.

4. Centronics Ltd - Geiger Muller tubes, a guide to applications and characteristics (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20150322105100/http://www.centronic.co.uk/downloads/Geiger_Tube_theory.pdf)

5. Glenn F Knoll. Radiation Detection and Measurement, third edition 2000. John Wiley and sons, ISBN 0-
471-07338-5

6. Liebson, S. H. (1947). "The discharge mechanism of self-quenching Geiger–Mueller counters" (http://dru

m.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/17793/1/DP70461.pdf) (PDF). Physical Review. 72 (7): 602–608.
Bibcode:1947PhRv...72..602L (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1947PhRv...72..602L) .
doi:10.1103/physrev.72.602 (https://doi.org/10.1103%2Fphysrev.72.602) . hdl:1903/17793 (https://h
dl.handle.net/1903%2F17793) .

7. "An Introduction to Geiger-Mueller (GM) Detectors" (https://www.orau.org/health-physics-museum/colle

ction/geiger-mueller-tubes/index.html) . www.orau.org. Retrieved 2021-10-12.

8. [1] (https://patents.google.com/patent/US3892990A/en) , "Bromine-quenched high temperature g-m

tube with passivated cathode", issued 1972-07-31

9. 4359661 (http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4359661.html) , Mitrofanov, Nicolas, "Geiger-Mueller tube

with tungsten liner", issued 1982-11-16

10. Naval Research Laboratory (May 25, 1949). "Geiger Counter Tubes" (https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltex
t/u2/b196664.pdf) (PDF). dtic.mil. Retrieved 2019-09-09.

11. A Handbook of Radioactivity Measurements Procedures (2nd ed.). National Council on Radiation

Protection and Measurements (NCRP). 1985. pp. 30–31. ISBN 978-0-913392-71-3. Report No. 58.

External links
 Patents
U.S. Pat ent 1,995,018 (ht t ps://pat ent s.google.com/pat ent /US1995018) , H. J. Spanner, "Gas
Filled Tube"

U.S. Pat ent 2,257,827 (ht t ps://pat ent s.google.com/pat ent /US2257827) , G. J. Weissenberg,
"Electron Discharge Tube"

U.S. Pat ent 2,521,315 (ht t ps://pat ent s.google.com/pat ent /US2521315) , J. A. Vict oreen,
"Geiger tube"

U.S. Pat ent 2,542,440 (ht t ps://pat ent s.google.com/pat ent /US2542440) , J. A. Vict oreen,
"Geiger tube"
Other
Geiger count er hist ory (ht t p://www.bookrags.com/sciences/sciencehist ory/geiger-count er-wo
i.ht ml)

IAEA Pract ical Radiat ion Technical Manual (ht t p://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publicat ions/PDF/
PRTM-1r1_ web.pdf)

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