Geiger–Müller Counter is a hand-held radiation survey instrument used in Radiation Dosimetry,Nuclear Physics,Experimental Physics & Radiological Protection.

1. A PRESENTATION ON
GEIGER-MULLER
COUNTERS.
PRESENTED BY
ABHISEK KUMAR SINGH
20124001
8TH SEM. , 4TH YEAR

2. GEIGER–MÜLLER
COUNTER
A HAND-HELD RADIATION SURVEY INSTRUMENT

3. LIST OF CONTENTS:-
 INTRODUCTION
 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
 READOUT
 TYPES OF GEIGER-MULLER COUNTER
 APPLICATIONS OF GEIGER-MULLER COUNTER
 LIMITATIONS OF GEIGER-MULLER COUNTER
 CONCLUSION

4. INTRODUCTION
 The Geiger–Müller counter is an instrument used for
measuring ionizing radiation used widely in such
applications as radiation dosimetry, radiological
protection, experimental physics and the nuclear
industry.
 It detects ionizing radiation such as alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays using the
ionization effect produced in a Geiger–Müller tube; which gives its name to the instrument .
In wide and prominent use as a hand-held radiation survey instrument, it is perhaps one of
the world's best-known radiation detection instruments.
 The original detection principle was discovered in 1908, but it was not until the
development of the Geiger-Müller tube in 1928 that the Geiger-Müller counter became a
practical instrument. Since then it has been very popular due to its robust sensing element
and relatively low cost. However, there are limitations in measuring high radiation rates and
the energy of incident radiation.

5. PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
 A Geiger counter consists of a Geiger-Müller
tube, the sensing element which detects the
radiation, and the processing electronics, which
displays the result.
 The Geiger-Müller tube is filled with an
inert gas such as helium, neon, or argon at low
pressure, to which a high voltage is applied.
 The tube briefly conducts electrical charge when a particle or photon of incident
radiation makes the gas conductive by ionization.
 The ionization is considerably amplified within the tube by the Townsend Discharge
Effect to produce an easily measured detection pulse, which is fed to the processing
and display electronics.

6.  This large pulse from the tube makes the G-M
Counter relatively cheap to manufacture, as the
subsequent electronics is greatly simplified.
 The electronics also generates the high voltage,
typically 400–600 volts, that has to be applied
to the Geiger-Müller tube to enable its operation.
TOWNSEND DISCHARGE :
 The Townsend discharge or Townsend avalanche
is a gas ionization process where free electrons
are accelerated by an electric field, collide with
gas molecules, and consequently free additional
electrons.
 Those electrons are in turn accelerated
and free additional electrons. The result is an avalanche multiplication that permits
electrical conduction through the gas. The discharge requires a source of free
electrons and a significant electric field; without both, the phenomenon does not
occur.

7. READOUT
There are two types of radiation readout;
 Counts :- The counts display
is the simplest and is the number of ionizing
events displayed either as a count rate,
commonly "counts per second“ , or as a total
over a set time period (an integrated total).
The counts readout is normally used when
alpha or beta particles are being detected.
 Radiation Dose:- It is displayed in a unit
such as the “Sievert” which is normally used
for measuring gamma or X-ray dose rates.

8. The readout can be analog or digital, and
increasingly, modern instruments are offering serial
communications with a host computer or network.
There is usually an option to produce audible
clicks representing the number of ionization
events detected.
This is the distinctive sound normally associated
with hand held or portable Geiger counters.
The purpose of this is to allow the user to
concentrate on manipulation of the instrument
whilst retaining auditory feedback on the radiation rate.

9. TYPES OF GEIGER–MULLER COUNTER
Broadly, there are two main types of Geiger–Müller counter:
 End Window Type: -
• For alpha particles, low energy beta particles,
and low energy X-rays, the usual form is a
cylindrical end-window tube.
• This type has a window at one end covered in
a thin material through which low-penetrating
radiation can easily pass.. The other end houses
the electrical connection to the anode.
Pancake tube type: -
The pancake tube is a variant of the end window
tube, but which is designed for use for beta and
gamma contamination monitoring. It has roughly

10. the same sensitivity to particles as the end window
type, but has a flat annular shape so the largest
window area can be utilized with a minimum of gas
space. The anode is normally multi-wired
in concentric circles so it extends fully throughout the
gas space.
 Windowless Type:-
This general type is distinct from the dedicated end window type, but has two main
sub-types, which use different radiation interaction mechanisms to obtain a count.
1. Thick walled
• Used for high energy gamma detection, this type generally has an overall wall
thickness of about 1-2 mm of chrome steel. Because most high energy gamma
photons will pass through the low density fill gas without interacting, the tube
uses the interaction of photons on the molecules of

11. the wall material to produce high energy secondary electrons within the wall.
• Some of these electrons are produced close enough to
the inner wall of the tube to escape into the fill gas.
As soon as this happens the electron drifts to the
anode and an electron avalanche occurs as
though the free electron had been created within
the gas.
• The avalanche is a secondary effect of a process
that starts within the tube wall; the avalanche is not
the effect of radiation directly on the gas itself. Because most high energy,
gamma photons will pass through the low density fill gas without interacting,
tube uses the interaction of photons on the molecules of the wall material to
produce high energy secondary electrons within the wall.
Some of these electrons are produced close enough to the inner wall of the
tube to escape into the fill gas. As soon as this happens the electron drifts to
the anode and an electron avalanche occurs as though the free electron

12. had been created within the gas. The avalanche is a secondary effect of a process
that starts within the tube wall; the avalanche is not the effect of radiation directly on
the gas itself.
2. Thin walled:-
Thin walled tubes are used for:
• High energy beta detection, where the beta enters via the side of the tube and
interacts directly with the gas,
• Low energy gamma and X-ray detection. The lower energy photons interact better
with the fill gas so this design concentrates on increasing the volume of the fill gas
by using a long thin walled tube and does not use the interaction of photons in
the tube wall.

13. APPLICATIONS OF GEIGER-MULLER COUNTER
 Particle Detection:-
• For alpha particles and low energy beta particles the
"end-window" type of G-M tube has to be used as these
particles have a limited range even in free air, and are
easily stopped by a solid material. Therefore the tube
requires a window which is thin enough to allow as many
as possible of these particles through to the fill gas.
• High energy beta particles can also be detected by a thin-walled "windowless" G-M
tube, which has no end window. Although the tube walls have a greater stopping
power than a thin end window, they still allow these more energetic particles to
reach the fill gas.

14. • End-window G-M detectors are still used as a general purpose portable radioactive
contamination measurement and detection instrument,
owing to their relatively low cost, robustness and their relatively high detection
efficiency; particularly with high energy beta
particles.
 Gamma and X-Ray Detection:-
• Geiger counters are widely used to detect gamma
radiation, and for this the windowless tube is used.
• For high energy gamma it largely relies on
interaction of the photon radiation with the tube
wall material, usually 1–2 mm of chrome steel
on a "thick-walled" tube, to produce electrons
within the wall which can enter and ionize the fill gas. This is necessary as the
low pressure gas in the tube has little interaction with high energy gamma
photons.

15. Neutron Detection:-
A variation of the Geiger tube is used to
measure neutrons, where the gas used is
Boron Trifluoride or Helium-3 and a plastic
moderator is used to slow the neutrons. This
creates an alpha particle inside the detector
and thus neutrons can be counted.
Gamma Measurement— Personnel Protection and Process
Control:-
The term "Geiger counter" is commonly used to mean a hand-held survey type meter,
however the Geiger principle is in wide use in installed "area gamma" alarms for
personnel protection, and in process measurement and interlock applications. A Geiger
tube is still the sensing device, but the processing electronics will have a higher degree
of sophistication and reliability than that used in a hand held survey meter.

16. LIMITATIONS OF GEIGER-MULLER COUNTER
There are two main limitations of the Geiger counter.
 Because the output pulse from a Geiger-Müller tube is always the same magnitude
regardless of the energy of the incident radiation, the tube cannot differentiate
between radiation types.
 A further limitation is the inability to measure high radiation rates due to the "dead
time" of the tube. This is an insensitive period after each ionization of the gas during
which any further incident radiation will not result in a count, and the indicated rate
is therefore lower than actual. Typically the dead time will reduce indicated count
rates above about 104 to 105 counts per second depending on the characteristic of
the tube being used.

17. CONCLUSION:-
Geiger-Muller counters are regarded as one of the world’s best radiation detection
instruments and is used widely and prominently as a hand-held radiation survey
instrument. This device is very popular due to its robust sensing element and
relatively low cost. However ,there are limitations in measuring high radiation rates
and the energy of incident radiation.
Geiger-Muller counters are used in numerous fields and it is even regarded as an
indispensable tool for the detection and measurement of ionizing radiation.