Recombination index of radiation quality - measuring and applications

The fact that local recombination in gases and liquids depends on density of ions created along particle tracks, is used in recombination chambers to measure the quality factor and some other quantities dependent on radiation quality. Dozens of types of recombination chambers have been constructed during the last 30 years and several methods based on recombination have been introduced. The authors' experience and investigations are summarised in the paper. (Author)