Lineal energy calibation of a spherical TEPC

Tissue-equivalent proportional counters (TEPCs) do not always allow built-in calibration alpha-particle sources, and the lineal energy calibration of these counters must be performed with an external radiation able to penetrate the detector walls. The irradiation field can be used for calibration if a particular marker point of known lineal energy is identified in the measured spectrum. This point is often identified with the proton edge, which corresponds to the maximum energy deposited by protons in the given volume. If the proton edge cannot be identified precisely in the measured spectrum, a gamma source can be used instead, identifying the maximum lineal energy due to electrons (e-edge). The technique was already described and applied for cylindrical TEPCs, allowing a calibration with an overall uncertainty smaller than 5 % (Conte et al. Lineal energy calibration of mini tissue equivalent gas-proportional counters (TEPC). AIP Conf. Proc. 1530, 171–178 (2013)). In the present work, this study was repeated for spherical detectors. First a marker point was identified in the microdosimetric spectrum of a 137Cs gamma source, then a precise value of lineal energy was assigned to it. Gas pressures were varied to simulate diameters from 0.5 and 3 mm at density 1 g cm23. A simple power equation is given for allowing calibration of TEPCs filled with C3H8-TE gas at different pressures, using an external 137Cs gamma source.