A precise ionization method for determination of the energy deposited in small sites of irradiated objects

The ionization method for determination of the energy deposited in sensitive sites of irradiated objects is usually used with the assumption that deposited energy is directly proportional to the number of ionizations in a site. This assumption fails in two cases important for nanometer-sized sites: (1) when the fluctuation characteristics of deposited energy such as higher moments, probability distributions, etc. are determined instead of the mean value; (2) when the radiation field in a site is spatially non-uniform. In this paper both cases are investigated. Exact formulae connecting energy and ionization quantities (moments, cumulants, probability distributions) are established as well as practical procedures to obtain energy quantities from those of ionization. The validity of the direct proportionality principle is analyzed and approximate methods to correct it are proposed. Some microdosimetric results are presented. The solution of these problems required that we refine some known notions and introduce new terms. In particular, in the paper the necessity of distinguishing two distinct types of events and correspondingly two sets of microdosimetric quantities is noted; new radiation parameters such as the fluctuation W value and non-equivalence factor for the events are defined and investigated numerically.