Response of the GLAST LAT calorimeter to relativistic heavy ions

Abstract

The CsI calorimeter of the Gamma-Ray Large-Area Space Telescope (GLAST) will be calibrated in flight with cosmic-ray heavy ions. In order to determine the response of the calorimeter to relativistic heavy ions lighter than Fe, an experiment was carried out at the GSI heavy ion facility using the Fragment Separator (FRS). The measured response exhibits an unexpected feature for light ions, opposite to that observed at low incident energy: for a given deposited energy, the observed signal is greater for these ions than for protons (or more generally Z = 1 minimum ionizing particles). Pulse shapes are found to be almost identical for carbon ions and Z = 1 particles, with a significant slow scintillation component, which constitutes another departure from the low-energy behavior. Data on the energy resolution for the individual CsI crystals and on the loss of ions due to nuclear reactions in the calorimeter are also presented.