Principles of radiation interaction in matter and detection

The fourth edition of this book has been widely revised. It includes additional chapters and some sections are complemented with either new ones or an extension of their content. In this latest edition a complete treatment of the physics and properties of semiconductors is presented, covering transport phenomena in semiconductors, scattering mechanisms, radiation effects and displacement damages. Furthermore, this edition presents a comprehensive treatment of the Coulomb scattering on screened nuclear potentials resulting from electrons, protons, light- and heavy-ions — ranging from (very) low up to ultra-relativistic kinetic energies — and allowing one to derive the corresponding NIEL (non-ionizing energy-loss) doses deposited in any material. The contents are organized into two parts: Chapters 1 to 7 cover Particle Interactions and Displacement Damage while the remaining chapters focus on Radiation Environments and Particle Detection. This book can serve as reference for graduate students and final-year undergraduates and also as supplement for courses in particle, astroparticle, space physics and instrumentation. A section of the book is directed toward courses in medical physics. Researchers in experimental particle physics at low, medium, and high energy who are dealing with instrumentation will also find the book useful.