Detector, UV Ionization Chamber

Ionization chamber detector with cylindrical metal cover, lithium fluoride entrance window with silver chloride seal representative of a class of UV detectors from the early 1950s through the 1960s. It was derived from the Navy BS-2 design and is labelled "Test Chamber M1150." The lithium fluoride window in this detector was designed to admit ultraviolet radiation. The charges generated by the impact of the photons on the interior gas then traveled to the oppositely charged anode electrode. Additional collisions of the ions and electrons with filling gas on their way to the electrodes generated more charges and in effect amplified the signal. This artifact is part of a collection of high energy detectors from the Naval Research Laboratory (see Catalogue numbers 19880001000-19880017000). It was transferred to NASM in 1987.