A LARGE-AREA, SCINTILLATION TELESCOPE FOR HEAVY-IONS

We have designed and tested in the laboratory a Large-Area, Scintillation Telescope (LAST) for the detection of heavy ions. This dual, thin-film detector is to be used as a fast event trigger, ΔE 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 inch by 3 inches. This is large enough to completely cover the active area of the focal plane of the FMA. Preliminary measurements indicate that ΔE 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 transiting ions. The durability and excellent timing characteristics of plastic scintillators make the LAST detector particularly valuable for high rate applications such as secondary beams measurements. Copyright © 1990 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.