Is it efficient to make a cosmic ray detector using a simple ionization chamber?
First 12 volts is not nearly enough of a potential even with a small signal Darlington as your first stage amplifierAn ionization chamber (of any size) works with a gas under partial vacuum with an electrical potential high enough on the electrode and outer can ALMOST at the point of an arc overA true GM tube uses a very thin membrane that is clear to beta radiationYou cover the membrane to shield out betas to differentiate between gamma alone and beta plus gammaYour aluminum foil will shield betas leaving ONLY gammas to cause ionization eventsAn ionization event occurs inside the can which lets a pulse of current flow momentarilyThe current source must not be able to deliver enough current to sustain an arcThe subsequent pulse is what you detect from outsideWhile the event is happening, your detector is DEAD to further events until the ionization of the gas recoversWhich means there could me one more or a million more events, and you will not knowThe more events that happen in the shorter time, the longer the dead time of the tubeThis circuit you have will detect electrons in quantity OR a ridiculously HIGH radiation source, but NOT single or low energy ionization eventsLook up Geiger-MuellerWhat you are doing here is reinventing the GM tubeA flickering fluorescent lamp is an excellent exampleThe voltage potential is just high enough to sustain current flow, but occasionally drops below the critical voltage and the lamp goes outAlong comes a photon and ionizes something, which triggers the lamp to allow current to flow for a while until it stops and repeats the cycleThat is why, when they get really bad, the light randomly flickers instead of a steady flicker in sync with the AC power line frequencyRadiation is random and when the potential is low enough, individual events trigger individual flashes from the tubeThis failing fluorescent tube is exactly like a GM tube in HOW it works when it randomly flickers in response to photons causing ionization events.
