December 2016 ~ Robert Gawron

Nuclear-radiation detection using very simple ionization chamber and a single J-FET transistor

in electronic engineering, radioactivity / with No comments /

Today I will show a very simple ionization chamber that can detect radioactivity. I was able to detect with it ionizing radiation from a smoke detector (Am241 isotope). It's also immune to electromagnetic interference (EMI) due to a good shielding. This...

Nuclear physic applied in smoke detectors

in electronic engineering, radioactivity / with 6 comments /

Not many people know, but in some smoke detectors, radioactive materials play an essential role. Today I will present one of those devices, and my -successful- attempt to reverse engineer it and get the circuit diagram. Those smoke detectors use a small...

Semiconductor Nuclear-Radiation Sensor: Part I

in electronic engineering, radioactivity / with 17 comments /

Currently I'm trying to make a working version of a radioactivity detector that uses semiconductor as a sensor. It's a different approach than Geiger-Muller detectors or ionization chambers, more complicated, but also much more interesting. While Geiger-Muller...