We report the design of a millimeter-sized parallel plate free-air ionization chamber (IC) aimed at determining the absolute air kerma rate of an ultra-soft X-ray beam (E = 1.5 keV). The size of the IC was determined so that the measurement volume satisfies the condition of charged-particle equilibrium. The correction factors necessary to properly measure the absolute kerma using the IC have been established. Particular attention was given to the determination of the effective mean energy for the 1.5 keV photons using the PENELOPE code. Other correction factors were determined by means of computer simulation (COMSOL™and FLUKA). Measurements of air kerma rates under specific operating parameters of the lab-bench X-ray source have been performed at various distances from that source and compared to Monte Carlo calculations. We show that the developed ionization chamber makes it possible to determine accurate photon fluence rates in routine work and will constitute substantial time-savings for future radiobiological experiments based on the use of ultra-soft X-rays.
REFERENCES
1.
2.
C. K.
Hill
, B. E.
Nelms
, J. F.
MacKay
, D. W.
Pearson
, W. S.
Kennan
, T. R.
Mackie
, J. P. M.
DeLuca
, M. J.
Lindstrom
, and M. N.
Gould
, Radiat. Res.
150
, 513
(1998
).3.
M.
Gould
, B.
Nelms
, C.
Hill
, J.
Mackay
, M.
Lindstrom
, T.
Mackie
, and P.
Deluca
, J. Radiat. Res.
40
, 66
(1999
).4.
M.
Hill
, D.
Stevens
, K. S.
Townsend
, and D.
Goodhead
, Radiat. Res.
155
, 503
(2001
).5.
M.
Folkard
, G.
Schettino
, B.
Vojnovic
, S.
Gilchrist
, A.
Michette
, S.
Pfauntsch
, K.
Prise
, and B.
Michael
, Radiat. Res.
156
, 796
(2001
).6.
Z.
Cai
, P.
Cloutier
, D.
Hunting
, and L.
Sanche
, J. Phys. Chem. B
109
, 4796
(2005
).7.
P.
Bernhardt
, W.
Friedland
, P.
Jacob
, and H.
Paretzke
, Int. J. Mass. Spectrom.
223–224
, 579
(2003
).8.
E.
Brun
, P.
Cloutier
, C.
Sicard-Roselli
, M.
Fromm
, and L.
Sanche
, J. Phys. Chem. B
113
, 10008
(2009
).9.
K.
Kobayashi
, K.
Hieda
, H.
Maezawa
, Y.
Furusawa
, M.
Suzuki
, and T.
Ito
, Int. J. Radiat. Biol.
59
, 643
(1991
).10.
M.-A. H.
du Penhoat
, A.
Eschenbrenner
, F.
Abel
, A.
Boissiere
, J.-M.
Guigner
, A.
Chetioui
, M.-F.
Politis
, A.
Touati
, E.
Sage
, T.
Jenner
, D.
Stevens
, and M.
Hill
, Int. J. Radiat. Biol.
86
, 205
(2010
).11.
G.
Neary
, J.
Savage
, and H.
Evans
, Int. J. Radiat. Biol.
8
, 1
(1964
).12.
D.
Goodhead
and J.
Thacker
, Int. J. Radiat. Biol.
31
, 541
(1977
).13.
J.
Carter
, N.
Cheng
, Y.
Qu
, G. D.
Suarez
, and T.
Guo
, J. Colloid Interface Sci.
378
, 70
(2012
).14.
J.
Solomon
and W.
Baun
, Rev. Sci. Instrum.
40
, 1458
(1969
).15.
N.
Ounoughi
, C.
Mavon
, A.
Belafrites
, J.-E.
Groetz
, and M.
Fromm
, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. B
305
, 61
(2013
).16.
A.
Ferrari
, A.
Fassó
, J.
Ranft
, and P.
Sala
, FLUKA: A multi-particle transport code, CERN-2005-10, INFN/TC05/11, SLAC-R-773, 2005
.17.
G.
Battistoni
, S.
Muraro
, S.
Sala
, F.
Cerutti
, A.
Ferrari
, S.
Roesler
, A.
Fassò
, J.
Ranft
, and M.
Albrow
, AIP Conf. Proc.
896
, 31
–49
(2006
).18.
F.
Salvat
, J.
Fernández-Varea
, and J.
Sempau
, PENELOPE-2011: A code system for Monte Carlo simulation of electron and photon transport, NEA/NSC/DOC(2011)5, 2011
.19.
COMSOL Multiphysics User's Guide, Version 4.3 (COMSOL AB,
2012
).20.
21.
22.
D.
Burns
and L.
Büermann
, Metrologia
46
, S9
(2009
).23.
24.
M.
Hoshi
, D.
Goodhead
, D.
Brenner
, D.
Bances
, J.
Chmielewski
, M.
Paciotti
, and J.
Bradbury
, Phys. Med. Biol.
30
, 1029
(1985
).25.
M.
Folkard
, B.
Vojnovic
, K.
Prise
, and B.
Michael
, Phys. Med. Biol.
32
, 1615
(1987
).26.
J.
Aitken
, Phys. Med. Biol.
3
, 27
(1958
).27.
L.
Büermann
, B.
Grosswendt
, and H.
Karmer
, Phys. Med. Biol.
51
, 5125
(2006
).28.
H.
Buhr
, L.
Büermann
, M.
Gerlach
, M.
Krumrey
, and H.
Rabus
, Phys. Med. Biol.
57
, 8231
(2012
).29.
BIPM
, “Constante physique pour les étalons de mesures
,” BIPM Com. Cons. Etalons Mes. Ray. Ionisants, Sect. (I)
11
, R45
(1985
).30.
D.
Burns
, “Consistent set of calculated values for electron-loss and photon-scatter corrections for parallel-plate free-air chambers
,” CCRI(I)/99-4, BIPM, 1999
.31.
N.
Ipe
, K.
Rosser
, C.
Moretti
, J.
Manning
, and M.
Palmer
, Phys. Med. Biol.
46
, 2107
(2001
).32.
P.
McCaffrey
, E.
Mainegra-Hing
, I.
Kawrakow
, K.
Shortt
, and D.
Rogers
, Phys. Med. Biol.
49
, 2491
(2004
).33.
N.
Takata
, T.
Kurosawa
, A.
Begumb
, and T.
Sugita
, NIST Special Publication
(NIST
, 2001
).34.
35.
J.
Holt
, A.
Buffa
, D.
Perry
, I.
Ma
, and J.
McDonald
, Int. J. Radiat. Oncol., Biol., Phys.
5
, 2031
(1979
).36.
S.
Lang
, J.
Hrbacek
, A.
Leong
, and S.
Klöck
, Phys. Med. Biol.
57
, 2819
(2012
).37.
J.
Havercroft
and S.
Klevenhagen
, Phys. Med. Biol.
38
, 25
(1993
).38.
J.
Burns
and D.
Burns
, Phys. Med. Biol.
38
, 1986
(1993
).39.
D.
Rogers
, I.
Kawrakow
, N.
Klassen
, J.
McCaffrey
, C.
Ross
, K.
Shortt
, L.
van der Zwan
, and G.
Daskalov
, 1999-2001 Report to CCRI(I) Meeting (BIPM
, 2001
).40.
F.
Botta
, A.
Mairani
, G.
Battistoni
, M.
Cremonesi
, A. D.
Dia
, A.
Fasso
, A.
Ferrari
, M.
Ferrari
, G.
Paganelli
, G.
Pedroli
, and M.
Valente
, Med. Phys.
38
, 3944
(2011
).41.
C.
Champion
, S.
Incerti
, Y.
Perrot
, R.
Delorme
, M.
Bordage
, M.
Bardies
, B.
Mascialino
, H.
Tran
, V.
Ivanchenko
, M.
Bernal
, Z.
Francis
, J.-E.
Groetz
, M.
Fromm
, and L.
Campos
, Appl. Radiat. Isot.
83
, 137
(2014
).42.
M.
Berger
, J.
Coursey
, M.
Zucker
, and J.
Chang
, ESTAR, PSTAR, and ASTAR: Computer programs for calculating stopping-power and range tables for electrons, protons, and helium ions, Version 1.2.3, 2005
.43.
O.
Boulanouar
, A.
Khatyr
, G.
Herlem
, F.
Palmino
, L.
Sanche
, and M.
Fromm
, J. Phys. Chem. C
115
, 21291
(2011
).© 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.
2014
AIP Publishing LLC
You do not currently have access to this content.
