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 Scintillation is
a phenomenon
in which a light
is emitted when a charged particle
hits a fluorescent substance.
The equipment to
measure the number of
these scintillations
is the scintillation counter.
Some kinds of plastic,
zinc sulfide,
sodium iodide,
noble gases, etc.
are used
as the scintillation substance.
In a today's
scintillation counter,
a scintillation material
is put
on the front of
a photomultiplier
and the emitted light
is converted
into an electric pulse.
The pulses are amplified
to raise the sensitivity
of the counter.
Thus it is widely used
as one of
the most important detectors
not only on the field of
nuclear study
but also
biology
or geology.
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