Application of a tandem ionization chamber in a quality control program of X-ray beams, radiotherapy level

A tandem ionization chamber, developed at the Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN), for X radiation beams, radiotherapy level, was applied into a quality control program of the Calibration Laboratory of IPEN. This ionization chamber is composed by two ionization chambers, with a volume of 0.6 cm each one. Its inner plane-parallel electrodes and guard rings are made of different materials: one is made of aluminum and the other is made of graphite. Because of this difference in materials, the ionization chamber forms a tandem system. The relative response of the calibration factors of both sides of the chamber allows an easy verification of the X-ray beam qualities stability. The ionization chamber was submitted to some tests to verify the stability of its response: leakage current before and after exposure, repeatability and reproducibility. The performance of the ionization chamber was satisfactory.