Radiation hardness study of BC408 plastic scintillator under 80 MeV proton beam irradiations

TL;DR

This study evaluates the radiation resistance of BC408 plastic scintillator under 80 MeV proton irradiation, demonstrating its stability and suitability for high-energy proton beam detection in accelerator upgrades.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of BC408's radiation hardness at 80 MeV protons, establishing its threshold and potential application in high-energy physics detectors.

Findings

BC408 remains stable up to 5.14×10^3 Gy/cm^3 absorbed dose.

It can absorb 1.63×10^13 protons/cm^3 at 80 MeV without performance loss.

Suitable for use in 1.6 GeV proton beam detection in CSNS upgrade.

Abstract

To investigate the 1.6 GeV high-energy proton beam detector utilized in the CSNS Phase-II upgrade project, a plastic scintillator detector presents a viable option due to its superior radiation hardness. This study investigates the effects of irradiation damage on a BC408 plastic scintillator induced by 80 MeV protons, including absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, and light yield tests of BC408 pre- and post-proton irradiation, with a focus on determining the radiation resistance threshold of BC408. The results indicate that the performance of BC408 remains unimpaired at absorbed doses up to 5.14*10^3 Gy/cm3, demonstrating its ability to absorb 1.63*10^13 p/cm3 1.6 GeV protons while maintaining stability. This suggests that BC408 could potentially be used as the 1.6 GeV high-energy proton beam detector in the CSNS Phase-II upgrade project.