Temperature effect on the performance characteristics of beta rays open air corona streamer counter

Open air three electrode (point-grid-plane) corona streamer counter with a preamplification gap has been utilized for detecting weakly ionizing beta rays. This is based on the fact that when the primary electrons produced by beta rays are multiplied in the external preamplification gap, they form a trigger electron swarm before entering the counter, produce the same effect as the direct incidence of strongly ionizing particle in the corona counter, and allow the counter to operate efficiently. However, operation of this counter in open air as one of its most attractive features requires a complete analysis of the counter response to the changes of ambient conditions. The effect of temperature on the beta particle corona counter performance is studied. A theoretical model is suggested to calculate the counter operating voltage as well as the beta particles triggered corona pulse characteristics at different temperatures (20/spl deg/C-50/spl deg/C). The temperature effects on the counter-energy response is explained. A compensation for the errors due to temperature effects is suggested. All the theoretical findings are confirmed by experiments.