The track structure of alpha-particles from the point of view of ionization-cluster formation in "nanometric" volumes of nitrogen

Probability distributions of the size of ion clusters created in "nanometric" volumes of nitrogen by single alpha-particles of a gold-plated 241Am source, were measured and compared with those calculated by Monte Carlo methods in the same geometry. The diameter of the sensitive volumes had...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Radiation and environmental biophysics 2002-06, Vol.41 (2), p.91-102
Main Authors: Grosswendt, B, Pszona, S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alpha Particles
Computer Simulation
Electrons
Linear Energy Transfer
Microchemistry - instrumentation
Microchemistry - methods
Models, Statistical
Monte Carlo Method
Nanotechnology - instrumentation
Nanotechnology - methods
Nitrogen - radiation effects
Radiation, Ionizing
Radiometry - instrumentation
Radiometry - methods
Scattering, Radiation
Sensitivity and Specificity
Water
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Summary:Probability distributions of the size of ion clusters created in "nanometric" volumes of nitrogen by single alpha-particles of a gold-plated 241Am source, were measured and compared with those calculated by Monte Carlo methods in the same geometry. The diameter of the sensitive volumes had a mass per area of between 0.015 microgram/cm2 and 1.3 micrograms/cm2 which, for a material at unit density, corresponds to a nanometric target volume 0.15-13 nm in diameter. These nanometre sizes were simulated experimentally in a device called the Jet Counter. This consists of a pulse-operated valve which injects into an interaction chamber an expansion jet of molecular nitrogen gas, which is crossed by a narrow beam of alpha-particles. The resulting ions are counted and analyzed from the point of view of ionization cluster formation. The measured or calculated cluster size probabilities prove that the formation of ionization clusters along a "nanometre" track is governed by Poisson's law only in the case of very small target volumes, due to the contributions by secondary electrons. The present ionization cluster probabilities produced in "nanometric" volumes 0.15-13 nm in diameter, are the first ever determined experimentally and confirmed by Monte Carlo simulation.
ISSN:0301-634X
1432-2099
DOI:10.1007/s00411-002-0144-9