Stopping Power of Alpha Particles in Helium Gas

Abstract

The stopping power and the range of alpha particles emitted from Am-241 source has been investigated in helium gas at different pressures of 0 to 1 bar, using surface barrier silicon detector in the large vacuum chamber. The energy loss has also been obtained at variable distances from 2 to 8 cm. It is observed that as the pressure in a large vacuum chamber increases, the energy loss of the alpha particle decreases. The measured energy loss of alpha particles at lower pressure of 0 bar is less, but at higher pressure of 1 bar is more. As expected from Bethe --- Bloch formula, the stopping power of charged particle in helium gas at different pressure was found to increase significantly when pressure is increased. The measured value of stopping power and range were compared with SRIM and theoretical value. The experimental value of stopping power and range was found to be very close to the SRIM and theoretical value. Then, the measured value of range was compared with experimental using the Bragg --- Kleeman's rule

Experimental Study of the Pressure Effects on Stopping Power for Alpha Particles in Air

“…It is important to consider the range of the α-particle in any given medium. The range is defined as the distance of that αparticle travel from its source to the target material [27]. This can be calculated using the following relation:…”

Investigation of Gamma Ray Buildup Factor for some Shielding Absorber

“…There are two main types of ionizing radiation. First, the directly ionizing radiations such as the alpha particle, beta particles and many other charged particles ionize atoms of their target material due to columbic interactions with the electrons of the material, and the amount of kinetic energies of these particles determines the amount of this columbic force [1][2][3][4][5]. Second, indirectly ionizing radiations are neutral particles such as high energy photons and neutrons which do not directly ionize atoms but undergo interactions to eject an energetic electron called the secondary electron.…”