On the effect of the discrete nature of the photoelectric emission in the thermoluminescence measurements (pulse counting method).

The discrete nature of the photoelectric emission cannot be neglected at low reading levels. The effect of A/D conversion after photomultiplication were both calculated and measured. The reading and its standard deviation were considerably different from those expected on the basis of a simple Poisson distribution and this should be taken into account at low reading levels. The authors describe a simple method which permits the experimental determination of photoelectron/digit conversion factor necessary for the prediction of the variation coefficient of TL measurements.