Hadron-Induced Radiation Damage in Fast Heavy Inorganic Scintillators

Abstract

Fast and heavy inorganic scintillators with suitable radiation tolerance are required to face the challenges presented at future hadron colliders of high energy and intensity. Up to 5 GGy and 5 × 1018 neq/cm2 of one-MeV-equivalent neutron fluence is expected by the forward calorimeter at the Future Hadron Circular Collider. This paper reports the results of an investigation of proton- and neutron-induced radiation damage in various fast and heavy inorganic scintillators, such as LYSO:Ce crystals, LuAG:Ce ceramics, and BaF2 crystals. The experiments were carried out at the Blue Room with 800 MeV proton fluence up to 3.0 × 1015 p/cm2 and at the East Port with one MeV equivalent neutron fluence up to 9.2 × 1015 neq/cm2, respectively, at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. Experiments were also carried out at the CERN PS-IRRAD proton facility with 24 GeV proton fluence up to 8.2 × 1015 p/cm2. Research and development will continue to develop LuAG:Ce ceramics and BaF2:Y crystals with improved optical quality, F/T ratio, and radiation hardness.

Ce3+, Pr3+ Co-Doped Lu3Al5O12 Single Crystals and Ceramics: A Comparative Study

“…The emission of Ce 3+ doped LuAG locating at 540 nm, matches well with the silicon photodiode (Si-PD), and its decay is fast (~60 ns). Furthermore, Ce:LuAG is considered a potential candidate for scintillators for future high-energy physics experiments due to its hard radiation tolerance [11,12]. Pr:LuAG has the main emission at 310 nm and very fast decay (~20 ns); it is considered one of the high-quality scintillators for the application of TOF-PET (Time of Flight, Positron Emission Tomography) [6,13].…”