Analysis of Spurious Counts in Geiger Counters

A method is described by which the intervals between successive pulses may be divided into size classes. The rate of arrival of intervals whose length is between t and ( t +δ t ) is measured, where t is variable and δ t is a preset period, small compared with t . The method is applied to the study of Geiger counter pulses for argon-alcohol counters. By examining the deviation of the pulse interval distribution from random laws, the number and time distribution of spurious counts is deduced for various potentials applied to the counter. It is found that almost all the spurious counts occur during the recovery period of the counter. They may be eliminated by the use of an external quenching circuit which applies an artificial dead time of the order of 400 microseconds to the counter.