(revised 4/18/06)

RANGE OF ALPHAS

Advanced Laboratory, Physics 407

University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin 53706

Abstract
A silicon solid state detector is used to measure the energy of
alphas which have passed through air from an Am241 source. The air
pressure may be varied and so the alpha particle Bethe-Bloch formula
for dE/dx may be verified and the alpha particle range and straggling
can be measured.

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Theory
A charged particle moving through a neutral medium will interact electro-
magnetically with both the electrons and nucleii of the material. The electro-
magnetic interactions with the nucleii cause Rutherford Scattering and are
seen as small (and occasionally large) changes in directions. The interactions
with the electrons are far more frequent and are seen as a fairly steady loss
of kinetic energy.
There are, of course, statistical fluctuations in the rate of the interactions
and this is seen as “straggling” of the range of monoenergetic particles. For
example, alphas with a mean range of 20 cm will have range fluctuations
(straggling) of about ±1%.
The rate of loss of energy can be calculated (see Ref.[1], pg. 637 and
Ref.[2], pp. 155-162.)

dE 1 4πe4 z 2 N B
=− (mks)
dx (4πo )2 me v 2
where

e = charge on electron (coulombs).

z = Atomic number of moving particle.
N = the number of atoms/unit volume (meter−3 ).
me = mass of electron (kg).
v = velocity of the moving particle (meter/sec).
E = kinetic energy of the moving particle (joules).
x = distance travelled by the particle (meter).
o = permittivity of free space.
1/(4π0 ) = 8.988 × 109 Newton meter2 /coulomb2 .
B = Atomic stopping number (dimensionless).

The factor B is not constant but varies slowly with energy in a logarithmic
manner. The theoretical calculations for B become difficult when allowance
is made for the partial screening of the nuclear charge by the inner (K)
electrons.

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 The best formula for B is probably that of Ref.[1], pg. 638.
 2m v 2 
" #
e 2 2
B = Z ln − ln(1 − β ) − β − CK
I

where

CK = the correction term for the K-shielding. The equations and a

plot of CK are shown on pg. 639 of Ref.[1]
β = the usual relativity factor - veloc particle/veloc light
I = “average” ionization potential of the stopping medium
Z = (average) atomic number of the stopping medium

If we assume that the velocity is non-relativistic, then E = 21 mv 2 and so:

dE 1 M B
 
=− 2
2πe4 z 2 N
dx (4π0 ) me E

where M is the mass of the particle.

β 2 is also small so that ln(1 − β 2 ) ≈ −β 2 and so

4me E
 
B = Z ln − CK .
MI
Fortunately in our experiment with alpha particles in air, the calculated value
of CK is nearly constant near 0.90.

dE
The particle range can be determined by integrating dx
over the particle
energy.
ZE
dE 0
R(E) = 0
− dE
dx
0
.
Statistical fluctuations lead to a distribution of ranges about the mean
R0 with a straggling parameter α defined by the probability distribution for
the ranges:

1 (R − R0 )2
P (R) = √ exp[− ]
α π α2

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 Figure 1: Energy Loss Curves for Different Particles in Air and Lead.

.
Numerical values for dEdx
as a function of energy are shown in Fig. 1
for various particles. A 5 Mev alpha particle has a dE dx
value of about
−2 dE
1000 MeV/gm − cm . dx has minimum for all particles at a kinetic emergy
of about twice the rest mass. For singly charged particles this value is about
2 MeV/gm − cm−2 .
Fig. 2 shows differential and integral probability distributions for heavy
particles ranges. The extrapolated range Rex is related to the straggling
parameter α as explained later in the text.
Fig. 3 shows range vs energy for alpha particled in air at standard con-
ditions. The range for a 5486 keV alpha in dry air at 15◦ and 760 Torr is
4.051 cm.

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Figure 2: The differential and integral probability distributions for heavy
charged particle range.

Figure 3: Alpha Range-Energy in air

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Apparatus
1. Vacuum Chamber. The vacuum chamber is made of pyrex glass and is
mounted inside a dark wooden box. The Silicon detector must be pro-
tected from room light since photons cause a noise background which
spoils the resolution of the detector. Do not open the glassware. The
alpha source could, over a long time, shed some radioactive dust. The
system has been designed to ensure that any dust is trapped inside the
glass system vacuum. The source to detector surface was remeasured
in 2005 and determined to be 6.65 ± 0.05 cm.
2. Filter. An automobile oil filter is used to check for possible source leak-
age. The filter is periodically tested to check for activity. The filter
has an internal rubber gasket which blocks the gas flow at low pressure
differentials (10 Torr). A copper wire has been inserted to hold the
internal rubber gasket open. Do not open or disconnect the filter.
3. Pressure Gauge—MKS Baratron type 122A. The pressure gauge is an
absolute pressure transducer based on measuring the capacitance of
a sample chamber. The accuracy is rated at 0.5% of reading from
0 − 50◦ C. The readout is in Torr.
4. Vacuum Pump. The pump is a 2 stage rotary pump enclosed in the
standard cart to reduce acoustic noise. Notice that a flow of warm air
is exhausted from the cart by an electric fan to prevent the pump and
motor from overheating.
5. Alpha Source. The decay scheme of Am241 is shown in Fig 4 This source
is not sealed and so must remain inside the vacuum enclosure. (Usually
sources are sealed with very thin metal skins. In this experiment, a skin
would slow the alphas slightly. As the skin could not have a perfectly
uniform thickness, the alphas would emerge with a broader range of
energies.) The 5486 and 5443 keV alphas will not be resolved due to
the finite thickness of the source. A 5486 keV alpha has a range in dry
air at 15◦ C and 760 Torr of 4.051 cm and so the source alphas cannot
reach the detector until the chamber pressure has been reduced.
6. Solid State Detector - (Ortec A-040-200-300, Serial 9-129B). The detec-
tor is a surface barrier detector consisting of an extremely thin p-type
layer on the face of a high purity n-type Si wafer. The rated energy

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 241
Am 458 years
95
12.7% 86.0%
α α
5443 keV 5486 keV

78% γ
22% 43 keV
γ
94% γ
237 103 keV 59 keV
Np
93

Figure 4: Decay Scheme of Am241

resolution of the detector is 40 keV and the active thickness when fully
depleted is 300µ. The p-type surface of the detector is gold plated with
a layer approximately 40 µg-cm−2 thick. The detector has a sensitive
diameter of about 16 mm and is mounted on a BNC connector within
the vacuum system. Although the detector can operate with a bias of
+100V in a very good vacuum, we will use the detector in the danger-
ous 10−2 Torr to 10 Torr region. Set the bias to 30 V but do not use a
bias greater than +30 V. Some useful properties of Si are listed in Fig.
6.
7. Pre-amplifier - (Ortec model A576). This is a charge sensitive pre-
amplifier which also supplies the bias voltage for the Si detector. The
pre-amplifier is designed to have a large effective input capacitance Ca
so that most of the charge drains from the detector and cable into the
pre-amplifier and is amplified. If the capacitances of the detector and
cable are Cd and Cc , then:
Ca
 
Qa = Qtot ,
Cd + Cc + Ca
where Qtot is the total charge collected by the detector, and Qa is the
charge delivered to the charge sensitive pre-amplifier.

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 α PREAMP AMPLIFIER MCA

SCOPE

Figure 5: Apparatus Schematic Diagram

Although Ca is large, the charge seen by the pre-amplifier depends upon

Cc and so the same short cable should be used to connect the detector
and pre-amplifier for all measurements.
8. Amplifier. ORTEC Model 570. Use the input set to POS and the
unipolar output. The amplifier gain is adjustable so that the gain
can be matched to the full scale range of the PC MCA System. The
amplifier also shortens the pulses so that a typical alpha pulse out is
∼ 2 µsec.
9. Pulse-Height Analyzer - Ortec 916A board inside the PC using the
Maestro MCA software. Usually set for 512 channels full scale.
10. Scaler - (Ortec Model 484).

Procedure
1. Read Ref.[2], pp. 208-217, and the theory in Ref.[1], Chapt. 22.
2. Pump down the vacuum chamber. The filter has a low pumping speed
and so the time to reach 10 Torr is several minutes. Practice using
the air inlet valve or the vacuum pump valve to obtain and hold any
pressure you wish.
3. Connect the detector to the FET pre-amplifier with a short (1 foot)
cable. The TEST-OFF switch should be set to the center position.
Connect the rear pre-amplifier output to the input of the pulse ampli-
fier. Connect the pulse amplifier output to the pulse height analyzer
input and scope. Do not terminate the cable to the scope, since the
pulse height analyzer input has a relatively low input impedance. The
schematic is shown in Fig. 5.

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4. The amplifier should be set for POS input pulses. Lower the pressure
to less than 5 Torr and look for positive pulses (5 µsec) at the MCA
and scope inputs. Adjust the gain of the amplifier so that the pulses
are being counted near the upper end of the 512 channel MHA. The
MCA requires positive pulses and full scale corresponds to 10 Volt
input pulses. Record all parameters so that you can later reproduce
the same gain. The Si detector output will be pulses whose amplitude
is proportional to the alpha particle energy less the energy lost in the
air. Since these pulses are fed to the MCA we have:

Energy = constant×pulse height = constant×(channel number+constant)

5. Compare the pulse height (channel #) of pulses produced with a bias

of +20 V with those produced with a bias of +30 V. Estimate the error
in the channel # due to your error in setting the bias at +30 V.

6. Use the amplifier attenuator to measure the linearity and zero offset of
the MCA.

7. Measure the full-width half maximum resolution of the alpha particle

peak and compare to the intrinsic resolution of the Si detector.

8. Measure the count rate and the mean energy E and energy straggling
(full width at half max) of the alphas as a function of the air pressure
(P). Take fine steps near the end of the range so you can determine the
range accurately. The count rate can be determined from the sum of
the counts in the MCA peaks. However it is much better to measure
the count rate using a scaler to avoid the MCA dead time correction.
Plot count rate against P. Determine the mean range R0 and the ex-
trapolated range Rex of the alpha particles as shown in Fig. 2. Compare
your result to the predicted value based on Fig. 3. Remember that you
have to correct the range predicted value for the temperature and at-
mospheric pressure of your data. From the quantity Rex −R0 determine
the effective straggling parameter α. The quantity α is defined by the
probability distribution for the ranges:

1 (R − R0 )2
P (R) = √ exp[− ]
α π α2

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 √
and Rex − R0 = 2π α. Measure the source-detector distance and cal-
culate the expected pressure for the range using the one-atmosphere
range given above. Compare the measured straggling parameter to the
value given in Fig. 7 below and the measured resolution of the alpha
peak.

9. Now use the MCA to measure the alpha particle energy as a function
of air pressure. Plot E against P. From this data compute dE/dx and
plot dE/dx against 1/E. If the factor B in the formula for dE/dx were
perfectly constant, then the dE/dx versus 1/E plot would be a straight
line through the origin. SigmaPlot has a nice Spline tool to determine
the derivatives of a set of x-y numbers.
 
10. Plot E dEdx
against ln E to verify that the ln term is energy dependent.
From the dE/dx vs ln E data determine the average Ionization Potential
I of dry air. Compare to the expected value.

11. Both the source and the detector have finite widths and so some par-
ticles will travel slightly different path lengths to the detector. Discuss
this contribution to the observed energy resolution.

12. From the count rate and by estimating the source and detector dimen-
sions (without opening the chamber), estimate the source strength in
microcuries (µCi).

13. Use the range-energy data sheet in Fig. 8 to check that the solid
state detector has a depletion depth greater than the range of 5.5 MeV
alphas.

References
[1] R.D. Evans, “The Atomic Nucleus,” McGraw–Hill, 1955.

[2] A.C. Melissinos, “Experiments in Modern Physics”, Academic Press,

1966 (2nd Ed. 2003).

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Figure 6: Silicon Properties

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Figure 7: Alpha Particle Straggling Parameter in Air

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Figure 8: Alpha Range-Energy in Silicon

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