Production, Characteristics, and Reliability of Geiger-Müller Counters

Abstract

A technique for the production of reliable Geiger-M\"uller counters is described. By the use of pure hydrogen gas and by cleaning the electrodes by sputtering in a glow discharge in hydrogen previous to filling the tubes with hydrogen gas, tubes with plateaus of 400 volts are produced. Copper, nickel, and tungsten have been found suitable for cathode cylinders while aluminum was not. Tubes filled with pure argon, pure oxygen, or air were found to give many spurious counts. An extensive series of reliability tests is described which shows that carefully made counter tubes used in properly designed circuits give completely reliable quantitative data.