Development of a charged particle thickness gauge

Abstract

The determination of the unknown sample thicknesses by using a radioactive source is one of the most widely used non-destructive measurement methods. In this work, an attempt was made to determine the unknown thicknesses of paper sheets by using a beta source. The components of the experimental system and their configurations were determined by minimizing the scatterings and considering physical events like the absorption of beta particles taking place in the surrounding medium. A nonlinear curve fitting procedure was applied to the experimentally obtained data points in addition to the iinear least squares method. Errors were analyzed, interpreted and for some of the investigated cases only the source of error was located. Finally some suggestions have been made for further work in this subject and applications in the field of on-line measurements.