Radiation Effect On Gas Electron Multiplier Detector Performance

Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detector is a gas device with high gain and high efficiency. These detectors use chemically perforated 65 μm thick copper clad Kapton polyimide foils. Given its potential for detecting X-rays and other radiations, GEM detectors may be used in an environment with high radioactivity. The Kapton foils manufacturer, Du Pont Inc., claims that the foils are radioactive resistant. To verify whether the GEM detector performance is affected by the exposure to radiation, several GEM foils were irradiated to a 60Co source at the gamma-ray irradiation facility at Sterigenics, Tustin, CA. Four sets of GEM foils were exposed to the level of 10 kGy, 100 kGy, 1,000 kGy and 10,000 kGy. The output signal from the GEM detectors with irradiated GEM foils were measured and compared to the detector with no irradiation. We observed that the shapes of the peaks from 5.9 KeV 55Fe X-ray were distorted and that the detector gain increased compared to that of the un-irradiated detector. In particular, the detector with 10,000 kGy irradiation appeared to have the biggest peak distortion and increased gain. It was also found from that additional electrons from radiation-induced free radicals in the Kapton film contribute to output signal of the irradiated GEM detectors. Further studies are needed to explain the mechanism of these detector performance changes.