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Alpha Particle Spectroscopy and Ranges in Air.

Article in International Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research · January 2014

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 International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Research (IJSER)
www.ijser.in
ISSN (Online): 2347-3878
Volume 2 Issue 8, August 2014

Alpha-Particle Spectroscopy and Ranges in Air

Etim I.P.1, William E. S.2, Ekwe S.O.3
1
Lecturer in the Department Of Physics, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria
2
Concluded his Master program in the department Of Physics, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria
3
Lecturer in the Department Of Physics, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract: The present study investigated energies of alpha-particles emitted by the triple-alpha sources (239Pu, 241Am and 244
Cm) in a
vacuum and measure the alpha particle properties at different pressures. The absolute activities for the radioisotopes in the triple alpha
source (239Pu, 241Am and 244Cm) were found to be 678·25±26·0s-1,631·97±25·1s-1 and 146·08±12·1s-1 respectively with ranges
experimentally found to be 4·29±2·1cm, 4·90±2·2cm and 5·33±2·3cm respectively in air at STP. These values compare very well with
known values in air at STP. Increases in energy peak when Poison error is assumed (FWHM increases) leads to increase in air pressure;
a condition of energy straggling in the broadening of the peaks was also observed.

Keywords: Air, Alpha particle, Energy peaks, Poison error, Radioisotope, Spectroscopy, Triple-alpha

1. Introduction is similar to the silicon surface barrier detector just described.

However, the contacts are generated by bombarding the
Alpha-particle spectrometry gives information on the energy surface of the silicon wafer with dopant ions rather than by
of radiation, unlike Geiger-Muller tubes which determine only thermal evaporation of metal contacts. The result is a slightly
the count rate. Alpha emitters are used in smoke alarms in the thicker contact, with a modified internal electric field
form of 241Am, which ionises air in order to create an distribution within the silicon wafer itself. The primary aim of
electrical current, which is interrupted in the presence of this experiment is to investigate the properties of α-particles
smoke. Other uses include 226Ra, used in breast cancer and their interaction with silicon pin detectors.
treatment, and 210Po which is used in industry to reduce static
charge [1]. Since alpha particles emitted have a characteristic 1.1 Theory
energy depending on the nucleus which is emitted, and the
daughter product, it is possible to identify the origin of the Alpha particles are helium-4 nuclei; two protons and two
primary radiation [2]. Recently, the field of alpha neutrons. They are highly ionising, have only a short range of
spectroscopy has gained recognition in nuclear measurement a few centimetres in air, and have typical energies of about
as well as the quantification and identification of alpha 5MeV if no other decay products are involved, although that
emitting radionuclides plays a major role in radiation varies depending on the radioisotope. For example, 212Po
protection. As the focus in the nuclear industry continues to emits 8.78MeV alpha particles. The Geiger-Nuttall
shift to waste management, site decommissioning and relationship describes how the energy of the alpha-particle
decontamination, the usefulness of alpha particle spectroscopy depends on the half-life, mean life and decay constant [5]. The
will continue to grow [3]. particle escapes from the nucleus by quantum tunnelling
through the potential well of the nucleus [5]. This is shown in
Since the mid-1960’s great advances with semiconductor Fig. 1. The probability of quantum tunnelling depends on the
detectors have been made. These are now routinely used for shape of the barrier, particularly the height and width [6].
alpha spectrometry and they can also be employed for Even within the nucleus, the alpha particle is considered
detection and spectrometry of fission fragments, internal separate from the remainder of the nucleus; due to how tightly
conversion electrons, and even x-rays and gamma rays. The bound the alpha particle is [7]. Interaction between the alpha
average energy required to produce an ion-pair in typical particle and the rest of the nucleus is made up of the strong
semiconductor materials (e.g. silicon or germanium) is an nuclear force and the Coulomb interaction. The decay results
order of magnitude smaller than in gases which leads to from the repulsive Coulomb force overcoming the attractive
extremely good energy resolution. Also these solid materials strong nuclear force [7].
have a much higher density than gas-filled detectors which
results in compact devices with high intrinsic detection
efficiency and fast response [4]. Conventionally, silicon
surface barrier detectors are used for alpha-particle
spectroscopy. These typically comprises of a wafer of n-type
silicon with a very thin gold contact evaporated on the front
face and an aluminium contact evaporated on the back face.
On exposure to oxygen a thin oxide layer forms beneath the
gold layer which acts as a narrow p-type region. If this p-n
diode is reverse biased very little current flows and a
depletion region forms in the bulk of the device. In the
depletion region, there is a very low density of charge carriers.
Charges generated in the depletion region by action of Figure 1: The potential well of a nucleus of atomic number Z,
ionising radiation are rapidly collected by the two electrodes and an alpha particle [5]
and the device can be described as a solid state ion chamber.
The thermally diffused p-i-n detector used in this experiment

Paper ID: J2013347 27

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 International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Research (IJSER)
www.ijser.in
ISSN (Online): 2347-3878
Volume 2 Issue 8, August 2014
Alpha particle energies can be detected using the deflection energy peaks widen. This is due to energy straggling, a
by electromagnetic fields, which was an early method of process where statistical fluctuations occur in the number of
measuring the energy of charged particles [8]. Ionisation collisions along the path of the particles and in the amount of
chambers and proportional counters have been used for this energy lost per collision [12]. Energy straggling can be
purpose. Semi-conductor detectors have also been developed, described by (5).
which have a much improved energy resolution over gas filled
detectors, as well as higher intrinsic efficiency and fast ���� = 4.16�∆���/� (5)
responses. These, however, require cooling [2]. A thermally
diffused p-i-n detector is used in this experiment, which is Here, FWHM is in kev, and Δx is the air-path thickness in mg
similar to silicon surface barrier detectors [8]. Silicon surface cm-2 [13]. The density of air can be found with the following
barrier detectors are made up of a wafer of n-type silicon, a equations:
thin gold contact evaporated on the front face, and an
aluminium contact on the rear face. A thin oxide layer may �=
�
(6)
form after exposure to oxygen, which will then act as a thin p- ��

type region. An n-type region is doped with donor impurity

Here, p is the pressure in pascals, T is the temperature, and R
atoms so that electrons are considered the charge carrier,
is a gas constant which is equal to 287·05 J kg-1 K-1 for dry air
while a p-type region has acceptor impurity atoms so that
[14]. From this, the range can be determined from the
holes may be charge carriers [9]. If the p-n diode is reverse
experimental result
biased, a depletion region forms in which there is a very low
density of charge carriers. Charges generated in this region by
�� = � × � (7)
the ionising radiation are collected by the two electrodes [8].
The thermally diffused p-i-n detector differs in that it has
This gives a range in mg cm-2, and d is the source-detector
contacts which are made by bombarding the surface of the
distance [8].
silicon wafer. The resulting contacts are therefore slightly
thicker, and the internal electric field distribution in the wafer
differs as well [8, 10]. The absolute activity for a radioisotope 2. Experimental Procedure
can be found by using the total activity combined with a 239 241 244
geometrical factor [11]. The count rate of the peak can be The triple alpha source ( Pu, Am and Cm) was placed
found, and it is assumed that each alpha particle which into a vacuum chamber containing the detector which is then
reaches it will be counted by the detector (100% intrinsic evacuated. The source-detector distance is 1·0 ± 0·1cm. When
efficiency). So the absolute activity is defined by: a spectrum is taken, the main peaks are expected to be at
5155keV, 5486keV and 5805keV (for 239Pu, 241Am and 244Cm
� ��� � respectively in a 1·63kBq source) [8]. This was used to find
� = �� × � (1) the FWHM and the counting rate.

Where, I is the absolute activity, f is the fractional intensity of In the second part of the experiment, the detector was
the alpha peak, Cα is the counting rate, d is the source detector calibrated using the known energy peaks and using a pulser to
distance, and A is the area of the detector active surface [8]. inject a small charge into the pre-amplifier of known
The Bethe-Bloch equation describes the stopping power of magnitude. The energy of the peak produced by the pulser is
particles, defining the rate of energy loss per unit length: known, and can be reduced by a certain fraction so that the
calibration can be extended to the lower channels of the multi-
�=
�� � ��
ln �
��� �
� (2) channel analyser (MCA). Equation (4) can be used to find the
�� � FWHMstat value from the resulting peaks. Equation (3) can be
verified by changing the air pressure in the vacuum chamber
Here, k is a constant, z is the charge on the ion, �� is the and observing the change in energy of the alpha particles.
electron density of the absorber, � is the electron mass, � is Spectra are taken at 0, 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 mbar (or
the ion velocity, and I is the mean ionisation potential of the as close as it is possible to get to 0 mbar). By plotting graphs
absorber atoms [8]. As this breaks down at low velocities, the of peak energy against air pressure and FWHM against air
following range equation is used for alpha particles. pressure, the range can be found by extrapolating to zero and
��
then using (6) and (7).
�
�� = 0.318�� (3)
3. Results and Discussion
Here, Eα is the energy of the alpha particle in MeV, and Rα is
the range in cm of air where air is at standard temperature and In the first part of this experiment, the FWHM of the main
pressure [8]. The total full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) can energy peaks is plotted against the peak energy as presented in
be described by the following equation Fig. 2. A Poisson distribution is assumed. This suggests that
the energy resolution of the detector increases as the energy of
������� = ������ + �������� �����
�
(4) those peaks increases.

Here, ������� is the measured peak width, ��������� is The result of absolute activities for the radioisotopes
the width of an inserted pulser peak and �������� is the comprising the triple alpha source using equation (1) is as
width of the peak due to counting statistics [8]. As the presented in Table 1
pressure in the vacuum chamber increases, the alpha particle

Paper ID: J2013347 28

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 International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Research (IJSER)
www.ijser.in
ISSN (Online): 2347-3878
Volume 2 Issue 8, August 2014
70

FWHM Energy (KeV)

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
5100 5200 5300 5400 5500 5600 5700 5800 5900
Peak Energy (KeV)

Figure 2: The full-width-half-maximum of the peaks produced by the triple alpha source against

Table 1: The absolute activities for the radioisotopes in the

triple alpha source ������� = ���������� � + �������� �
Fractional Absolute = √26.06� − 20.18� =16.49KeV (8)
Radioisotope Energy(keV)
intensity[7] activity(s-1)
239
Pu 5155 0.73 678·25±26·0
241 The calibration uses an electrical peak inserted with a pulser
Am 5486 0.86 631·97±25·1
244
Cm
at 5657·87keV. Peaks with values of one-half and one fifth of
5805 0.73 146·08±12·1
this are inserted so that the linearity of the response in the
In the second part of this experiment, (4) is used to find lower channels is the same as the higher channels. The peak
energy against air pressure is as shown in Fig. 3. The lowest
the �������� .The ������� is from the 241Am peak, and
air pressure possible is 80. This shows a reduction in energy
��������� is from the inserted peak. Hence:
peak in the order of 239Pu > 241Am > 244Cm.

7000
Peak energy (keV)

6000

5000

4000
Pu-239
3000
Am-241
2000 Cm-244

1000

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Air pressure (mbar)

Figure 3: The Peak energy of the triple alpha source against the air pressure

Paper ID: J2013347 29

Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY
 International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Research (IJSER)
www.ijser.in
ISSN (Online): 2347-3878
Volume 2 Issue 8, August 2014
250

FWHM (keV)
200

150

Pu-239
100 Am-241
Cm-244

50

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Pressure (mbar)

Figure 4: FWHMs of the triple alpha source against the air pressure

Fig. 4 shows the FWHM against air pressure when Poisson a pressure, which can then be converted into a density by (6),
errors in the energy peaks are assumed. The FWHM of the from which (7) can be used to find the range of the alpha
239
Pu peak at 1000 mbar looks to be anomalous. The FWHM particle. This can then be compared with (3). Poisson errors
increases when the air pressure increases. This would be due are assumed. The values from (3) fit well within the error
to energy straggling, where statistical fluctuations occur in the ranges of the experimental results. Discrepancies can be
number of collisions along the path of the particles and in the accounted for as air is not an ideal gas, which (6) assumes.
amount of energy lost per collision [12], and as there is a
greater pressure in the chamber, more collisions would be STP is 273·15K and atmospheric pressure (101·325kPa)
expected. Using the equations from the spreadsheet program according to NIST [15].
for the linear line fitted in Fig. 3, it is possible to extrapolate
to where the energy of the peaks are equal to zero. This gives

Table 2: The alpha particle ranges, experimental and values obtained from equation (3)

Ra from equation (3) Ra from experimental

Radioisotope
(cm in air at STP) results (cm in air at STP)
239
Pu 3.72 4.29 ± 2.1
241
Am 4.09 4.90 ± 2.2
244
Cm 4.45 5.33 ± 2.3

4. Conclusions experiment could be expanded by looking at lower energy

alpha particles, to see if the relationship still holds, however
In conclusion, alpha particle spectroscopy allows the for higher energies complications may be caused by nuclear
identification of the nucleus from which an alpha particle is reactions of the incident particles with the material of the
emitted as the energies are characteristic. Using the triple detector [4].
alpha sources: 239Pu, 241Am and 244Cm, it has been possible to
measure a number of properties of the emitted alpha particles. References
These properties include the absolute activity of the 239Pu,
241
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www.ijser.in
ISSN (Online): 2347-3878
Volume 2 Issue 8, August 2014
[5] M. McCaughrean, Nuclear and High-Energy Particle
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