spark chamber

Spark chamber at Brookhaven National Laboratory
Credit: BNL

A device used to detect ionizing radiation. The spark chamber is made up for example of a number of metal plates arranged in parallel with a voltage of some thousand volts between each other. The spaces between the plates are filled with gas. The ionizing radiation leads to spark formation between the plates along the path of radiation through the chamber. The spark trace can be registered photographically or electronically.

Related category

• ATOMIC AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS

Source: European Nuclear Society

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