Beta Skin Dosimetry using Passivated Planar Silicon Detector

Accurate measurement of beta skin dose remains a challenge. This dose is defined as the dose to the basil layer at 7 mg/cm² (approximately 70 µm) below the surface of the skin and averaged over an area of 1 cm². This dose is dependent upon the energy of the beta contamination on the surface of the skin, the area of contamination and the attenuation of this radiation through the 7 mg/cm² epidermal layer. Ideally, knowing the energy spectra of betas at this level below the surface of the skin would allow accurate prediction of dose. In this work, a Passivated Planar Silicon (PIPS) detector was tested by measuring beta spectra in a geometry simulating skin and, from that, estimating dose. Three calibrated beta sources were used, a low energy beta source, (¹⁴⁷Pm), a medium energy source, (²⁰⁴Tl), and a high energy beta source, (⁹⁰Sr/⁹⁰Y) to cover the range of beta energies typically found in skin contamination events. Modelling utilized the MCNPX and VARSKIN 4.0 computer codes to calculate dose in skin and were found to be in good agreement with each other. Experimental measurements using a 300 µm thick, 3 cm² PIPS and the three sources identified above showed good agreement with MCNPX results (and thus, also with VARSKIN). Finally, MCNPX modelling compared the dose rates from a commercially available, 100 µm thick, 1.5 cm² PIPS detector and skin, and found that the beta dose could be accurately predicted within 17% over the range of beta energies tested. This result can be obtained with a single measurement and without the need for post data collection analysis.