Lucas cell

A Lucas cell is a type of scintillation counter.^[1] It is used to acquire a gas sample, filter out the radioactive particulates through a special filter and then count the radioactive decay. The inside of the gas chamber is coated with ZnS(Ag) - a chemical that emits light when struck by alpha particles. A photomultiplier tube at the top of the chamber counts the photons and sends the count to a data logger.