Development of a liquid scintillator-based 3D detector for range measurements of spot-scanned proton beams

Abstract

The goal of the present study is to develop a liquid scintillator-based 3D detector and investigate its performance for beam range measurements in real time. The detector design consists of a tank filled with water-equivalent liquid scintillator that scintillates in response to incident proton beams. Three scientific complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (sCMOS) cameras collect the resulting optical signals. Preliminary measurements have shown that the optical detection system can record light distribution profiles anywhere inside the tank with an average spatial resolution of 0.23 mm. By employing multiple cameras the system is capable of capturing high resolution 2D depth and beams-eye profiles of the delivered beam and can consequently localize the position of beam anywhere inside the tank. It is also shown that it is capable of accurately measuring proton beam range with no more than 0.3 mm difference from the nominal range. The detector system thus demonstrates its ability to perform fast, high-resolution, and precise beam range measurements in 3D.