LET dependence of scintillation yields in liquid xenon

By the end of the 1980s, a number of experiments were conducted on the LET dependence of scintillation yields in liquid argon in an effort to confirm the maximum response for relativistic heavy ions over the LET region from 1 0(2) to 10(3) MeVcm(2)/g, identified as "flat-top response". Based on the e xperimental results, a flat-top response would be expected in liquid xenon as well, since liquid xenon possesses an electronic structure identical to that of liquid argon. In order to confirm such expectation, a series of sci ntillation yield measurements were made in liquid xenon using heavy ion bea ms of C (400 MeV/n),Si (600 MeV/n),Ar (650 MeV/n) and Fe(500 MeV/n). As a r esult, the experiments have successfully confirmed the above-mentioned expe ctation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.