A circuit for the limitation of discharge in G-M counters

A simple two tube feedback arrangement to limit the discharge in a counter to a small segment of its length subsequently restoring all but a small portion of the tube to full sensitivity in about a microsecond, has been achieved. The procedure results in a marked reduction in dead-time, and a correspondingly large increase in life. For example, a 20-cm. counter may be operated at a rate of 20,000 counts per second with a loss no greater than that normally encountered at 1000 counts per second. Counting rate data are given along with studies of the discharge distribution with and without the cut-off procedure. Alteration in the dead-time picture is illustrated by oscillograms.