Introduction

Abstract

The detection of nuclear charged particles and radiation is made possible by their interaction with matter. The most widely used materials for this purpose are gases — one of the earliest examples being the Geiger–Müller counter — but also liquids (e.g. liquid Argon) and even solid materials. Charged particles and electromagnetic radiation are capable of ionising atoms along their path of flight or in the vicinity of their interaction point, thus producing free electric charge carriers that may be collected and measured directly. One may also use secondary effects, for example the generation of light in scintillators due to a recombination of ions and electrons.