An attempt to trace ionizing particles in a gas chamber

Experiments are described on the possibility of developing a gas luminescence chamber for the observation of particle tracks. A brief review of devices currently available for obtaining ionizing particle tracks, particularly those capable of time resolutions in the microsecond region, is included. Attempts were made to detect scintillations in several gas and vapour mixtures. For some gas mixtures the possibility of using ionizing radiation to initiate a light producing chain reaction was investigated. These experiments were performed in the temperature range from 25 to 220° centigrade. Results obtained were not of such a nature to encourage further work towards the development of a gas luminescence chamber. As a background of non-radiation induced photon emission was observed for several reactions, it is possible that the methods employed in the experiment may be adopted to measure the onset and rate of some chemical reactions.Science, Faculty ofPhysics and Astronomy, Department ofGraduat