The response of a NE102 scintillator to passing-through relativistic heavyions

The response of a NE102 scintillator to He, C, Ne, Si and Ar ions has been studied at incident energies from 120 MeV up to 18 GeV when used as a trans mission (Delta E) counter. The energy of the incident beam was changed by i nserting an absorber of various thicknesses made of PMMA plates. The primar y particles were identified and separated from projectile fragments by usin g the Delta E-E counter telescope method. A thin NE102, plastic scintillato r and a EGO scintillator were used as a Delta E counter and a residual E co unter, respectively. The energy of the primary particles was deduced by com paring the depth-dose distribution measured by an ionization chamber to tho se by a theoretical calculation. The light output of the NE102, dL/dx, was found to be linear to dE/dx in the low-dE/dx region, while gradually being quenched in the high-dE/dx region. This quenching was regarded as being a p henomenon independent of the particle species. The residual particle-specie s dependency was well indexed as a function of log (AZ(2)). (C) 1999 Elsevi er Science B.V. All rights reserved.