RADIATION DETECTION TERMINOLOGY
Radiation Detectors
clips become attached to the magnet. The same is true of a particle passing by a group of atoms
at a given distance. The slower a particle travels, the more atoms it affects.
Stopping Power
Stopping power or linear energy transfer (LET) is the energy lost per unit path length. Equation
6-2 expresses this relationship.
(6-2)
S
LET
DE
DX
where
S
= stopping power
LET = linear energy transfer
DE = energy lost
DX = path length of travel
Specific ionization times the energy per ion pair yields the stopping power (LET), as shown in
Equation 6-3.
(6-3)
S
ion pairs
path length
energy
ion pairs
energy
path length
Stopping power, or LET, is proportional to the specific ionization.
IC-06
Page 2
Rev. 0
