Study the thickness effect of ZnO and ZnS(Ag) detectors on their response in the detection of alpha particles

Abstract

This research aims to study the relationship between the thickness of each ZnO and ZnS(Ag) and the radioluminescence from each of them when they are exposed to alpha particles. Scintillation detectors were prepared from ZnO with thicknesses ranging between (1 to 14.5) µm and ZnS(Ag) with thicknesses ranging between (0.3 to 38) µm by depositing each compound on a transparent plastic sheet. These different detectors were exposed to the alpha particles source ²⁴¹Am, the radioluminescence emitted by each of the two scintillations was studied using the nuclear counting system (AB5) manufactured by Pylon Electronics Inc. The results showed that ZnS(Ag) gives stability in response and high efficiency for a wide range of thicknesses (4 to 38) µm, unlike ZnO, which has the highest response and efficiency within a small and limited range of thicknesses located in a range (2.5 to 5.5) µm, but outside this range its response becomes significantly low.