Conductivity of Highly Dosed Air

This paper reports on the measurement of the electrical conductivity of air after the air has absorbed a dose on the order of 2×106 rad. The experiment, employing the HERMES II facility of Sandia Laboratories and a Febetron x-ray source, showed no difference in the value of ¿/¿ (ratio of mobility to attachment rate) for electrons in highly dosed air compared to electrons in undosed air, within the 20 percent accuracy of the experiment. This was true for both dry air and air containing 3 percent water vapor. The ions produced by the large energy deposition were found to have a ratio of mobility to ion-ion recombination coefficient of 3.0×106 cm-1 s-1 at S.T.P. If the mobility of the ions is assumed to be the same as that for undosed air, the resulting ion-ion recombination coefficient is found to be smaller than that given in the published literature.