Yield of ``Free Ions'' in Gamma-Irradiated Liquid Saturated Hydrocarbons

Abstract

When a hydrocarbon is subjected to ionizing radiation, some of the electrons that are ejected from the molecules escape the electric field of their parent ions. An ``escaped electron'' and its parent ion can diffuse independently of each other, so they may be considered as free ions. The number of electrons that escape their parents per hundred electron volts of energy absorbed by the system, G(esc e —), is approximately 0.2. This value was determined by conductance measurements and is probably accurate to within a factor of 50%. From numerical analysis of delta‐ray energy spectra, it appears that secondary electrons with energy greater than 30 or 40 eV can escape from their parent ions.