Direct measurement of electron contamination in cobalt beams using a charge detector

A method is described in some detail for measuring the magnitude and penetration of the electron contamination in photon beams using a pancake charge detector. It is shown that the response of the detector to a photon beam can be separated from the component due to the electron contamination. In the present work, the detector is used to measure the electron fluence in a 60Co photon beam. This fluence is subsequently converted to dose by comparison with the fluence and dose measured from a pure electron beam (90Sr). This study proves, within experimental error, that the observed changes in the buildup region, with the collimator opening for both filtered and unfiltered 60Co beams, are due to electron, rather than photon, contamination.