[Demonstration of ultra-hard X-radiation by means of silicon photo-elements (author's transl)].
Commercial silicon photo-elements were irradiated with 8 MV X-rays and 10 MeV electrons in the linear accelerator SL 75/10, and their usability as monitors and dosemeters was examined. The short circuit current of the photo-elements, which is linear to the transmitted dose rate, was measured with an expressly developed impulse amplifier which is sensitive to electricity. Further examinations as to the energy dependence proved a nearly constant sensitivity within the scope of 1 to 10 MeV. However, there are irradiation damages within this scope, which lead to a decrease of the sensitivity to photo-electricity producing a degeneration rate of 100 to 9 MGy-1. The examination showed on the other hand that, because of their simple measuring principle, the easily reproducible results, and the high sensitivity, the photo-elements can find various applications as monitors with direct display for relative measurements.