Development of an optical digital ionization chamber

We are developing a new device for optically detecting and imaging the track of a charged particle in a gas. The electrons in the particle track are made to oscillate rapidly by the application of an external, short-duration, high-voltage, RF electric field. The excited electrons produce additional ionization and electronic excitation of the gas molecules in their immediate vicinity, leading to copious light emission (fluorescence) from the selected gas, allowing the location of the electrons along the track to be determined. Two digital cameras simultaneously scan the emitted light across two perpendicular planes outside the chamber containing gas. The information thus obtained for a given track can be used to infer relevant quantities for microdosimetry and dosimetry, e.g., energy deposited, LET, and track structure in the gas. The design of such a device now being constructed and methods of obtaining the dosimetric data from the digital output will be described. 4 refs., 4 figs