1. From ionizing radiation to light

A history of liquid scintillation measurement is given in Box 1.

The liquid scintillation activity measurement technique transforms the ionizing radiation produced by the decay or de-excitation of a radioactive atom into detectable and quantifiable light radiation. The technique is based on a cascade of energy transfer phases involving ionizing radiation, electrons, light photons and photomultiplier electrons. The overall efficiency of the phenomenon depends on the optimal coupling of all these processes.