Radiation Detectors in High Energy Physics

Spark chambers, scintillation and Cerenkov detectors are used extensively in high energy physics experiments. The potential usefulness of semiconductor detectors is being investigated. There is a need for detectors which will identify very high energy particles. The various types of spark chambers are briefly reviewed, including narrow gap, wide gap and filmless chambers. Applications of scintillation detectors are discussed, together with remarks on light pipes, localization of particles by time-of-flight, use of multiparameter pulse height analysis, hodoscopes and on-line computers. The use of Cerenkov counters is summarized. Several new types of detectors are considered which may be suitable for identification of particles of very high energy, hundreds of BeV, including transition radiation detectors and semiconductor devices.