Ion distributions in plane and cylindrical chambers.

The ion chamber equations of Thomson include both ion recombination and space-charge terms. Neglecting the space-charge term, an exact solution is obtained for the ion densities across a plane ionization chamber. The method is extended to the cylindrical chamber, and examples are given of the expected ion distributions in both geometries. Current-voltage relationships are derived for both chambers and compared with those of other workers. If the space-charge term is retained, the ion chamber equations for both geometries are not soluble in closed form. The cylindrical chamber is considered and a computer solution is obtained for the ion distributions and current. Comparison with the nonspace-charge solution shows that while there is only a small difference in the current-voltage relationship, a significant difference can occur in the ion concentrations.