Study into using PIN photodiode for measurement of high dose gamma radiation

Abstract

This paper presents the use of PIN photodiode for high dose gamma radiation measurement in order to replace the Geiger-Muller (GM) tube in the development of compact and energy-saving radiation measurement devices. The commercial product PIN photodiode BPW34 of VISHAY was selected for this study. A low-noise electronic circuit using Max4477 IC and Max988 IC was designedto record and process signals from the BPW34 probe. Experimental results with radiation sources showed that BPW34is sensitive enough for gamma radiation measurement applications, and the output pulse counts of the circuit is proportional to the dose rate of gamma radiation.