[sdiy] Alpha Particle detectors

[Grant Richter]

Hello All,

Thank you for the suggestions. I found the very simple alpha particle
detector developed by the US Army. "Rugged Alpha Particle Counter" US Patent
Number 5,059,803

http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&
u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1='5,059,803'.WKU.&OS=PN/5,059,803&RS=
PN/5,059,803

This can be made from a MOSFET, tuna can and hair dryer nozzle (really).
Counting efficiency is rated at 100% with an output of 7.4 millivolt pulses.
For a 10 microcurie Am 241 source (I pulled it out of a smoke detector) that
works out to 37,000 counts per second, or 145 random bytes per second.

What I am having trouble with is the voltage needed for the outside cage. It
is not specified in the patent. Can anyone help? (I am way, way over my
head)

Thank you.
> 
>> Is there an easier way to detect alpha particles than a photodiode
>> scintillation counter? (The scintillation phosphors are rather expensive as
>> you would expect) How about cutting the top off of the photodiode?
>