Title:
Comparison of discrimination methods for alpha radiation signals using imaging plates.

Abstract:
The discrimination of different radiation signals is important for quantitative measurements of naturally occurring radionulides by using the technique of imaging plates (IPs). In this study, four discrimination algorithms previously proposed for discriminating and counting the incident alpha signals were experimentally compared from the view points of linearity response, the discrimination capability of alpha signals from beta signals and the detection uncertainty. The results showed that all the methods had a good linearity response and could discriminate alpha signals from beta signals. In general, a larger region of interest (ROI) has a higher detection efficiency, but the discrimination capability of alpha signals from beta signals is worse. By taking into account both the detection efficiency and the uncertainty of detection, the algorithm using an ROI of 5 × 100 μm × 100 μm was considered to be the most appropriate method for quantitative measurements of alpha radiation.