A large-area, scintillation telescope for heavy ions

Abstract

The design and laboratory testing of a large-area, scintillation telescope (LAST) for the detection of heavy ions are discussed. This dual, thin-film detector is to be used as a fast event trigger, Delta E, and time-of-flight spectrometer at the focal plane of the Argonne Fragment Mass Analyzer (FMA). The thin scintillator films in each of the LAST detector modules have dimensions of approximately 1 in by 3 in. This is large enough to completely cover the active area of the focal plane of the FMA. Preliminary measurements indicate that Delta E measurements in each of the foils taken alone or in conjunction with data from other detectors could be used to determine the nuclear Z of the transisting ions. The durability and excellent timing characteristics of plastic scintillators make the LAST detector particularly valuable for high-rate applications such as secondary beam measurements. >