A new method for measuring the response time of the high pressure ionization chamber

Time response is an important performance characteristic for gas-pressurized ionization chambers. To study the time response, it is especially crucial to measure the ion drift time in high pressure ionization chambers. In this paper, a new approach is proposed to study the ion drift time in high pressure ionization chambers. It is carried out with a short-pulsed X-ray source and a high-speed digitizer. The ion drift time in the chamber is then determined from the digitized data. By measuring the ion drift time of a 15 atm xenon testing chamber, the method has been proven to be effective in the time response studies of ionization chambers.

► A method for measuring response time of high pressure ionization chamber is proposed.
► A pulsed X-ray producer and a digital oscilloscope are used in the method.
► The response time of a 15 atm Xenon testing ionization chamber has been measured.
► The method has been proved to be simple, feasible and effective.