Production rate of proton-induced isotopes in different materials

High background counting rates are the main limitation on sensitivity of sa tellite borne gamma-ray instrumentations. The observed background comes fro m different sources: cosmic diffuse, charged particles and high energetic p hotons. Among the different background components, that due to the activati on of the telescope and satellite passive materials by cosmic protons is th e most difficult component to evaluate. In the framework of background studies and sensitivity estimations for the INTEGRAL and MINISAT-01 projects, a wide range of materials has been irradi ated with proton beams at different energies to identify the induced unstab le isotopes and their production cross-sections. In this paper we present experimental results obtained from the analysis of such irradiation experiments. These values are compared to those obtained by means of the two frequently used prediction methods: GEANT/GCALOR Monte- Carlo code and Silberberg and Tsao semiempirical expressions. (C) 2000 Else vier Science B.V. All rights reserved.