Development and characterization tests of a homemade ionization chamber with silver collecting electrode for use in electron beams

Abstract

Ionization chambers are special detectors for radiation beam dosimetry in hospitals. In this work, a PMMA parallel-plate ionization chamber with airsensitive volume was designed and built for use in electron beams of linear accelerators. This ionization chamber has a PMMA collecting electrode covered with silver paint. Several characterization tests were undertaken following international recommendations. The ionization chamber showed good performance in the characterization tests of its electrical properties and in most of the tests performed in the linear accelerator beams.