Chapter 4

Interaction of Radiation with Matter

4.1 Introduction

In the Chap. 2, we studied the nature of radiation normally emitted by radioactive

isotopes (i.e., either α-particle, or β-particle, or γ -ray, or mixture of them). It is also
seen that the number of such radiations emitted per unit time by an isotope is pro-
portional to the number of atoms decaying per unit time. Therefore, for measuring
the activity of a radioactive isotope, it is appropriate to design an instrument, which
could detect and measure these radiations. Instruments, which are being used for
this purpose, can measure either ion-pairs (i.e., pair of electron-positively charged
ions) or visible light photons formed when these radiations interact with some suit-
able material. Therefore, it will be desirable to understand the effects caused by the
interaction of radiation with a matter (i.e., the interaction of α-particle, β-particle,
and γ -ray with a material) before discussing the principles on which different types
of detecting instruments are based.

4.2 Types of Interactions

When radiation emitted by a radioactive isotope interacts with matter (i.e., the target),
it is either scattered or absorbed by the target material. The transfer of energy from
radiation to atoms of the absorbing material may occur by several processes, but
among the commonly encountered ones, the following two are most important.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 45

M. Sharon and M. Sharon, Nuclear Chemistry,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62018-9_4
46 4 Interaction of Radiation with Matter

4.2.1 Ionization

This process results in the removal of an electron from an atom or molecule, thereby
leaving the atom or molecule with a net positive charge. This causes the respective
atom or molecule to become ionized.

4.2.2 Excitation

The process of excitation is the addition of insufficient energy (but sufficient enough
to transfer an electron from the ground state to an excited state) to the target material to
produce the ionization of material. The excited atom or molecule may lose its excess
energy when the electron from its higher energy shell returns to its original ground
state. When this occurs, the excess energy is liberated as photons which can escape
or get absorbed in different parts of the target material. The nuclear excitation of the
target material is of significance only for neutrons having relatively high energies
and may not be of our interest.

4.3 Interactions with Particulate Radiation

A discussion on the types of nuclear radiations and their interaction can be conve-
niently divided into three main categories.

4.3.1 α-Particles

α-particles are ejected from atomic nuclei with a velocity in the order of 5% of light
velocity. High mass number, charge, and velocity serve to make the α-particle an
efficient projectile when it encounters atoms of an absorbing material and it has a high
probability of interacting with the orbital electrons. Thus, the number of ion- pairs
produced in unit length of track (i.e., the specific ionization) is high, and energy is
rapidly transferred to the medium; its penetrating power is, therefore, comparatively
poor.
α-particles may undergo either elastic (no transfer of energy) or inelastic (transfer
of energy from the α-radiation to the target particle) collisions. Inelastic collisions
result in ionization and/or excitation. After collision the kinetic energy of the α-
particle is gradually dissipated by such interactions until eventually it captures two
electrons and becomes a helium atom. Briefly, an α-particle is a highly ionizing and
weakly penetrating radiation. α-particles from a given radioactive nuclei are emitted
with the same energy; hence the range of α-particles, apart from straggling, will
4.3 Interactions with Particulate Radiation 47

also be the same. The relationship between range and energy has been expressed
empirically as follows:
3
Range = 0.318E 2 (4.1)

where range (expressed in cm) is the distance traveled by an α-particle in air at one
atmospheric pressure and 15 ◦ C, and E the initial energy of the α-particle in MeV.

4.3.2 β-Particles

β-particles can be either negatively charged or positively charged (known as positron).

Positron is an electron with a positive charge; it falls in the category of particles along
with electrons, as they have similar masses. Since they have equal masses and oppo-
site charges, they lose their kinetic energy by a similar mechanism. However, the
main difference is that a positron is annihilated with an electron of the interacting
materials into an electromagnetic radiation of 0.511 MeV/particle.
Normally, a β-particle loses its energy in a large number of ionization and exci-
tation events in a manner analogous to the α-particle. Owing to its small mass (and
hence higher velocity at a given energy) and charge, there is a lower probability of a
β-particle interacting in a given medium. Consequently, specific ionization is lower
and the range at which the β-particle can penetrate into the interacting material is
considerably greater than that of an α-particle of comparable energy.
Unlike α-particles, β-particles possess a continuous spectrum of energies, because
decay energy of the nuclei is conserved between a neutrino and a β-particle. In other
words, a β-emitter isotope emits β-particles of energies anywhere from zero to a
maximum energy value, known as E max (Fig. 2.1). E max is the characteristic value
for a particular radioactive nucleus. That is to say that a β-emitting radioactive isotope
can be identified by measuring its E max value because no two radioactive isotopes
have the same E max value.

4.4 Interaction with Electromagnetic Radiation

4.4.1 Electromagnetic Radiation

This group of radiations includes both X -rays and γ -rays. However, these two radia-
tions differ only in their origin of formation and not in their mechanism of interaction.
Here, only γ -radiation is discussed. γ -radiation is emitted from the nucleus with the
velocity of light, has zero rest mass, and no electric charge. The specific ionization
produced by this radiation is very small. The absorption of γ -rays in matter occurs
by mechanisms which are completely different from the absorption of particulate
48 4 Interaction of Radiation with Matter

1.0

Absorption Coefficient (cm 1)

Overall Effect

0.1
Photoelectric Effect Compton Scattering

Pair Prodeuction
0.0
0.01 0.10 1.0 10.0
Energy of Gamma Rays (MeV)

Fig. 4.1 Probability for γ -rays of various energies interacting with matter in different ways

radiations. γ -rays can lose whole or part of their energy in a single encounter. The
absorption of a γ -ray by matter is exponential in nature and unlike a β-particle, there
is no quantity corresponding to a range (E max ). The absorption of γ -rays in matter can
occur by three different processes, depending on their energy, i.e., by Photoelectric
effect, Compton effect, and Pair production.

4.4.2 Photoelectric Effect

The absorption of low energy γ -rays is mainly due to the photoelectric effect. In this
interaction, the photon (i.e., γ -radiation) gives up all its energy to an atom, and an
atomic electron is ejected. The kinetic energy of the electron is equal to the difference
between energy of the incident photon (i.e., γ -radiation) and the binding energy of
the electron in the atom from which it was ejected. The ejected electron transfers its
energy to the medium in the fashion as described for β-particles. The probability that
γ -rays (Fig. 4.1) will undergo photoelectric effect follows a specific relationship:

Z5
7/2
(4.2)
Eα

4.4.3 Compton Effect

For medium energy photons (energy > 0.501 and < 1 MeV), the most probable
energy transfer mechanism is Compton scattering. A photon transfers a part of its
4.4 Interaction with Electromagnetic Radiation 49

energy to an orbital electron of the interacting material and this electron is ejected out
of the orbital. The scattered photons leave the material with the remaining energy.
These scattered photons may either undergo a series of similar Compton scattering
(until their energy falls below 0.51 MeV) and eventually end up in a photoelectric-
type interaction, or get scattered away into the space without having the chance
to interact with interacting material. Thus, the probability of Compton scattering
decreases with increasing energy of γ -rays (Fig. 4.1). The ejected electrons from the
orbital of interacting material, on the other hand, transfer their energies in a fashion
as described for a β-particle (refer Sect. 4.3.1).
If the spectrum of the energy of photons is measured, the Compton scattering
would give a continuous “background” with one broad spectrum due to ejected
electrons (of a type similar to β-spectrum) followed by one specific sharp intensity
due to photoelectric effect (refer Fig. 2.3 in Chap. 2).

4.4.4 Pair Production

Photons of energy greater than 2 × 0.51 MeV (0.51 MeV is the energy equivalent to
one electron) may be absorbed by pair production, where γ -photon of 1.02 MeV is
converted in the vicinity of a nucleus, into a pair of electrons, one positive (known
as positron) and one negative (like a β-particle). This process is known as pair
production. If a γ -ray possesses energy greater than 1.02 MeV, the excess energy
is shared equally between the two electrons as kinetic energy. This negative electron
like a β-particle can now interact with the target, producing secondary ion-pairs.
The process of the formation of secondary ion-pairs continues until the electron has
lost all its kinetic energy. Likewise, the positron also produces ionization with the
interacting material (i.e., it can eject the orbital electron of the interacting material),
until its kinetic energy has become zero.
However, after the positron loses all its kinetic energy and slows down to almost
zero, it encounters a free electron of the interacting material. During the process
of this interaction, the positron and electron of the target material get annihilated,
converting their masses into energy. This energy appears in the form of two γ -rays,
each possessing 0.51 MeV energy. These γ -rays may interact with the target by the
process of Photoelectric effect. However, if by chance the newly formed two γ -rays
possess energy higher than 0.51 MeV, they may interact with the target material
by the process of Compton scattering as well. The probability of pair production
increases with the energy of γ -rays (Fig. 4.1).
Hence, if the energy spectrum of γ -rays with energy greater than 1.02 MeV is
measured, in addition to a peak corresponding to its actual energy, we would also
observe low energy photons (appearing as background noise) due to the Compton
scattering process, a pair production photopeak of energy 1.02 MeV (due to the anni-
50 4 Interaction of Radiation with Matter

hilation of positrons with electrons), and a peak corresponding to the photoelectric

effect (due to the interaction of photons of energy equal to 0.51 MeV). The resolution
of all these peaks would depend upon the sensitivity of the measuring instrument.

4.5 Consequences of Interactions

From these discussions, it is obvious that when any radiation either electromagnetic
(X -rays or γ -rays) or particulate (α-particles or β-particles) interacts with matter it
can either ionize the material (due to the removal of electrons from the interacting
material) or cause either a photoelectric effect, pair production or excite the material
(due to insufficient energy transfer to the atom) to a higher energy. So, two processes
can take place when such radiations interact with matter: ionization causing the
formation of ion-pairs or the excitation of atoms of the interacting material.

4.5.1 Process of Excitation

When the interaction follows the process of excitation, the excited atoms of the
material soon fall to its original ground state by emitting photons of equivalent energy
(i.e., excess energy gained by the interacting radiation). These photons interact with
matter by three processes discussed earlier. The creation of excited species by these
radiations can easily be done with solid or liquid materials.

4.5.2 Process of Ionization

When the interaction follows a process of ionization, then depending upon the energy
of the radiation, primary and/or secondary ion-pairs are formed. The kinetic energy
associated with ion-pairs then becomes equivalent to the energy of the electromag-
netic radiation. Since it would be difficult to measure the kinetic energy of ion-pairs
formed in a solid, one normally uses gases as a constituent of target material for the
interaction. This immediately imposes a limitation to detect γ -rays by this process,
because the probability of their interaction with the gaseous particles is very low.

4.6 Types of Counters

For measuring the radioactivity of any isotope, we shall have to develop a counting
instrument which could detect either the presence of ion-pairs or photon emitted by
the excited species. The instruments which operate to measure either ion-pairs or
photons emitted due to the interaction of radiation with matter are of two types:
4.6 Types of Counters 51

1. Counters based on the production of ion-pairs in a gas, e.g., the ionization cham-
ber, the proportional counter, and the Geiger–Müller counter. These counters
are discussed in Chap. 5.
2. Counters based on the production of excited species which in turn produce Pho-
toelectric, Compton effect and Pair production in suitable materials, e.g., scintil-
lation counters which are discussed in Chap. 6. Under this class, we also have
some special type of counters like semiconductor counters, which are discussed
in Chap. 7.

Summary
In this chapter, we studied the type of interactions with matter which take
place with various types of radiations (α-particles, β-particles, and γ -rays).
Based on the properties of interactions with matter, counters for detecting these
radiations have been touched upon.