Use of proportional counters in X-Ray diffraction

IN X-RAY DIFFRACTION, the data are obtained by measuring the intensities diffracted at any given angle from a sample. Inasmuch as the intensities to be measured are often extremely low, the Geiger counter has been used as the measuring device because of its great sensitivity. Because of the shortcomings of the Geiger counter, several authors, notably Lang and Knowles, have reported on results with the proportional counter replacing the Geiger tube. They used a cylindrical tube with concentric anode wire, with the X-ray beam entering a side window and passing perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder. In recent work at General Electric, both a tube similar to theirs and also a rectangular tube with an anode grid and parallel plate construction have been used.