ABSTRACT
The discovery that halogens act as quenching gases for Geiger-Müller detectors led to their popular use. Organic polyatomic gases work well in G-M tubes, but these gases can be consumed after several months of continuous use as the molecules dissociate irreparably. When a gas ion comes into contact with the cathode wall, the absorption of an electron leaves the now neutralized atom in an excited state. In 1947, Sidney Liebson further improved the device by including in the tube gas a small amount of a halogen as a quenching gas, an improvement that allowed the detector to operate at lower applied voltages and to last significantly longer. Geiger counters typically have a coaxial configuration, in a thin anode wire is placed on the axis of a cylindrical tube that serves as the cathode. Because of the large ionization clouds produced in G-M tubes, it is necessary to include a quenching gas along with the host detection gas inside sealed tubes.
