tion, drift and diffusion of charges, avalanche creation, and breakdown have been
thoroughly discussed with necessary mathematics. Some specific types of gas filled
detectors have also been discussed. Chapter 4 deals with liquid filled detectors. Liq-
uid filled detectors have recently gained considerable popularity. This chapter gives
the reader an overview of the charge production and transport processes in liquids
and how different types of liquid filled detectors are built. Solid state detectors are
perhaps the most widely used detectors today. Chapter 5 deals with different types
of solid state detectors, such as semiconductor detectors, diamond detectors, and
thermoluminescent detectors. A major problem with solid state detectors is their
vulnerability to radiation. Radiation damage mechanisms are therefore thoroughly
discussed in this chapter. Scintillation detectors and photodetectors are the topics
of chapter 6. This chapter not only introduces the reader to the basic scintillation
mechanisms but also discusses important properties of the commonly used scintil-
lators. For subsequent photodetection, the transfer to scintillation photons are a
major issue. The topic of light guides has therefore been given due attention. De-
tection of these photons is the next step, which can be accomplished with different
types of detectors. Two such devices, that is photomultiplier tubes and avalanche
photodiode detectors have been thoroughly discussed in this chapter. Chapter 7
deals with position sensitive detection and imaging. The basic principles of posi-
tion sensitive and imaging devices as well as related techniques have been discussed
here. The reader is also introduced to a number of position sensitive and imaging
devices. Signal processing is the heart of today’s electronic radiation detectors. A
major portion of the manpower and capital is therefore invested in designing and
building electronics for detection devices. This chapter exposes the reader to the ba-
sic electronic circuitry used in radiation detectors. Different types of preamplifiers,
shapers, filters, discriminators, and analog-to-digital converters have been discussed
here. The issues of electronics noise have also been given due attention. Chapter
9 gives a detailed discussion of the statistics and data analysis techniques. The
topics related to probability, error propagation, correlation, regression, time series
analysis, and counting statistics have been discussed in detail. Chapter 10 gives
an overview of different data analysis software packages that are freely and com-
mercially available. This chapter is not intended to be a manual of these software
packages. It introduce the reader to their capabilities with regard to analyzing data
that has been acquired through radiation detection devices. Dosimetry is the topic
of chapter 11. Since dosimetry plays a central role in assuring health and safety of
individuals exposed to radiation, this chapter gives a detailed account of the sub-
ject. The harmful effects of radiation and how to guard against them have also been
discussed in this chapter. Chapter 12 introduces the reader to the topics related to
radiation spectroscopy. Different spectroscopic techniques related to different types
of particle detectors have been introduced here. Also included are topics of mass
spectroscopy and time spectroscopy. Chapter 13 deals with the topic of data acqui-
sition. The major data acquisition standards of NIM, CAMAC, VME, FASTBUS,
and PCI have been introduced.
Writing this book has been a long and tedious process. The highly demanding
work at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory including on-call periods did not leave
much choice other than cutting down on family time. Coming back from work and
then immediately start working on the book till midnight every day is not a very
family oriented approach. However my wife, Rahat, not only didn’t complain but
xxiii