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A compact Time-Of-Flight detector for radiation measurements in a space habitat: LIDAL–ALTEA
Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A (
)
–
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nima
A compact Time-Of-Flight detector for radiation measurements in a space habitat: LIDAL–ALTEA M.C. Morone a,b ,∗, C. Berucci a , P. Cipollone b , C. De Donato b , L. Di Fino b , M. Iannilli a,b , C. La Tessa d , C. Manea e , G. Masciantonio b , R. Messi a,b , L. Narici a,b,c , G. Nobili b , D. Pecchi a,b , P. Picozza a,b , E. Reali a,b , A. Rizzo a,b , M. Rovituso d,e , F. Tommasino d,e , G. Vitali a,b a
Physics Department, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy INFN, Rome Tor Vergata, Italy c ASI, Rome, Italy d Physics Department, University of Trento, Trento, Italy e Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Application TIFPA-INFN, Trento, Italy b
ARTICLE Keywords: TOF detectors Silicon detectors FLUKA Space
INFO
ABSTRACT LIDAL–ALTEA is a detector designed to study the radiation flux and energy spectra in the International Space Station (ISS). Its mission is manifested by NASA in 2019. The ALTEA subsystem, which took data on the ISS in the past Zaconte et al. (2010), is based on Silicon Strip detectors and will measure the released energy of the traversing particles, while the LIDAL subdetector is based on fast plastic scintillators, read by PMTs, will measure the particle Time Of Flight. A custom Front End electronics has been designed to reach a time resolution better than 120 ps. LIDAL is under construction while a prototype has been already tested with a proton beam. The measured time resolution fulfills the design expectation and is compatible with FLUKA simulations. The Monte Carlo results have also been validated by the comparison with a test measure where the ALTEA detector was exposed to proton beams.
Contents 1. 2. 3. 4.
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... Detector description ............................................................................................................................................................................................ Simulation and test beam results........................................................................................................................................................................... Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................................................................................... References..........................................................................................................................................................................................................
1 1 1 2 2 2
1. Introduction
2. Detector description
The LIDAL–ALTEA detector is developed to characterize the radiation flux inside the International Space Station allowing to identify the particle type and to measure the relative abundancies for all Galactic Cosmic Ray ions. It is composed by two subsystems: (i) - a portion of the ALTEA system [1], that already measured the radiation onboard of the ISS in the 2006–2012 period, and (ii) LIDAL [2] which is currently under development, and will enhance the ALTEA performances both, expanding the energy acceptance window for light nuclei, and in terms of particle identification.
LIDAL is composed by two arrays of eight plastic scintillators (EJ230) 0.4 cm thick, read on both sides by PMTs (Hamamatsu RS9880U110), positioned at a distance of 49 cm with custom electronics. They are expected to measure the particle TOF with a resolution better than 120 ps (𝜎), and to provide trigger for the fast light particles to the whole system. Three ALTEA modules, each composed by 6 silicon striped planes, 380 μm thick, will be inserted between the two scintillator arrays to measure the energy release and to track the particles (Fig. 1). The whole system will measure ions passing through at least one ALTEA
∗ Corresponding author at: Physics Department, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy. E-mail address: [email protected] (M.C. Morone).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.09.139 Received 20 June 2018; Received in revised form 21 September 2018; Accepted 28 September 2018 Available online xxxx 0168-9002/© 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: M.C. Morone, et al., A compact Time-Of-Flight detector for radiation measurements in a space habitat: LIDAL–ALTEA, Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.09.139.
M.C. Morone et al.
Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A (
)
–
Fig. 3. Time resolution measured with a 228 MeV proton test beam.
Fig. 1. LIDAL–ALTEA set up.
Fig. 4. Simulated (left) and measured (right) energy released by 70 MeV protons in two consecutive ALTEA planes.
As an example, the measured and simulated energy released in two consecutive ALTEA planes by protons approaching the end of their range, are shown in Fig. 4. The plots relative to data and to simulation present the characteristic 𝛥E-E behavior and a punch-through structure, indicating that part of the protons are absorbed in the last shown Si plane (upper arm) while the others reach the next Si detector (lower arm).
Fig. 2. Simulated light output as a function of Proton beam energy, crystal length, and impact point distance to the PMTs.
4. Conclusions The LIDAL–ALTEA detector has been simulated with FLUKA and the Monte Carlo results have been used to optimize the LIDAL design. A LIDAL prototype and ALTEA detector have been tested using proton beam: simulations are in agreement with results. In particular, time resolutions of the order of 80 ps have been measured for protons in the energy range from 70 to 230 MeV with the LIDAL prototype. These results will contribute to enhance the PID [2], when the Time Of Flight (from LIDAL) and the LET (from ALTEA) measurements will be combined.
modulus. Particle identification will be achieved by combining TOF and LET measurements. 3. Simulation and test beam results The LIDAL prototype described in [2], made with the same scintillator material and provided with an electronic chain with the same major components of the flight model, and the ALTEA were tested under a test beam at the Proton Therapy Center TIFPA-Trento separately. Data from test beam and the simulation of the whole detector, based on the FLUKA Monte Carlo code [3,4], have been used to optimize the LIDAL final design. In Fig. 2 it is shown the simulated number of optical photons collected at the PMTs for scintillators of two possible lengths (9, 18 cm) to match the area covered by ALTEA, as a function of the impact point distance from the PMTs and of the proton energy. The length of 9 cm has been chosen to maximize granularity and light collection, while the scintillator thickness of 4 mm optimizes the signal rise time to further improve the TOF measurement precision avoiding front end electronics saturation when the detector is traversed by heavy ions present in the cosmic radiation. For a proton energy of 228 MeV, a time resolution of 82 ps (𝜎) has been measured, as shown in Fig. 3. This value obtained with the LIDAL prototype, similar to the ones measured at lower energies (70–200 MeV), was already better than the design goal of 120 ps. The simulation has been also used and validated to study the ALTEA detector system exposed to a mono-energetic proton beam.
Acknowledgments The authors thank the Trento Proton Therapy Center for the allocation of beam time and Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Italy for financial support. References [1] V. Zaconte, et al., High energy radiation fluences at ISS-USLab: Ion discrimination and particle abundances, Rad. Meas. 45 (2010). [2] A. Rizzo, et al., A compact time of flight detector for space applications: The LIDAL system, Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 898 (2018) 98–104. [3] A. Ferrari, et al., FLUKA: A multiparticle transport code, no.004.4:539.1, CERN2005-010; INFN-TC-2005-11;SLAC-R-773. [4] G. Battistoni, et al., The FLUKA code: Description and benchmarking, AIP Conf. Proc. 896 (2007) 31–49.
2 Please cite this article in press as: M.C. Morone, et al., A compact Time-Of-Flight detector for radiation measurements in a space habitat: LIDAL–ALTEA, Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.09.139.
)
–
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nima
A compact Time-Of-Flight detector for radiation measurements in a space habitat: LIDAL–ALTEA M.C. Morone a,b ,∗, C. Berucci a , P. Cipollone b , C. De Donato b , L. Di Fino b , M. Iannilli a,b , C. La Tessa d , C. Manea e , G. Masciantonio b , R. Messi a,b , L. Narici a,b,c , G. Nobili b , D. Pecchi a,b , P. Picozza a,b , E. Reali a,b , A. Rizzo a,b , M. Rovituso d,e , F. Tommasino d,e , G. Vitali a,b a
Physics Department, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy INFN, Rome Tor Vergata, Italy c ASI, Rome, Italy d Physics Department, University of Trento, Trento, Italy e Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Application TIFPA-INFN, Trento, Italy b
ARTICLE Keywords: TOF detectors Silicon detectors FLUKA Space
INFO
ABSTRACT LIDAL–ALTEA is a detector designed to study the radiation flux and energy spectra in the International Space Station (ISS). Its mission is manifested by NASA in 2019. The ALTEA subsystem, which took data on the ISS in the past Zaconte et al. (2010), is based on Silicon Strip detectors and will measure the released energy of the traversing particles, while the LIDAL subdetector is based on fast plastic scintillators, read by PMTs, will measure the particle Time Of Flight. A custom Front End electronics has been designed to reach a time resolution better than 120 ps. LIDAL is under construction while a prototype has been already tested with a proton beam. The measured time resolution fulfills the design expectation and is compatible with FLUKA simulations. The Monte Carlo results have also been validated by the comparison with a test measure where the ALTEA detector was exposed to proton beams.
Contents 1. 2. 3. 4.
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... Detector description ............................................................................................................................................................................................ Simulation and test beam results........................................................................................................................................................................... Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................................................................................... References..........................................................................................................................................................................................................
1 1 1 2 2 2
1. Introduction
2. Detector description
The LIDAL–ALTEA detector is developed to characterize the radiation flux inside the International Space Station allowing to identify the particle type and to measure the relative abundancies for all Galactic Cosmic Ray ions. It is composed by two subsystems: (i) - a portion of the ALTEA system [1], that already measured the radiation onboard of the ISS in the 2006–2012 period, and (ii) LIDAL [2] which is currently under development, and will enhance the ALTEA performances both, expanding the energy acceptance window for light nuclei, and in terms of particle identification.
LIDAL is composed by two arrays of eight plastic scintillators (EJ230) 0.4 cm thick, read on both sides by PMTs (Hamamatsu RS9880U110), positioned at a distance of 49 cm with custom electronics. They are expected to measure the particle TOF with a resolution better than 120 ps (𝜎), and to provide trigger for the fast light particles to the whole system. Three ALTEA modules, each composed by 6 silicon striped planes, 380 μm thick, will be inserted between the two scintillator arrays to measure the energy release and to track the particles (Fig. 1). The whole system will measure ions passing through at least one ALTEA
∗ Corresponding author at: Physics Department, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy. E-mail address: [email protected] (M.C. Morone).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.09.139 Received 20 June 2018; Received in revised form 21 September 2018; Accepted 28 September 2018 Available online xxxx 0168-9002/© 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: M.C. Morone, et al., A compact Time-Of-Flight detector for radiation measurements in a space habitat: LIDAL–ALTEA, Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.09.139.
M.C. Morone et al.
Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A (
)
–
Fig. 3. Time resolution measured with a 228 MeV proton test beam.
Fig. 1. LIDAL–ALTEA set up.
Fig. 4. Simulated (left) and measured (right) energy released by 70 MeV protons in two consecutive ALTEA planes.
As an example, the measured and simulated energy released in two consecutive ALTEA planes by protons approaching the end of their range, are shown in Fig. 4. The plots relative to data and to simulation present the characteristic 𝛥E-E behavior and a punch-through structure, indicating that part of the protons are absorbed in the last shown Si plane (upper arm) while the others reach the next Si detector (lower arm).
Fig. 2. Simulated light output as a function of Proton beam energy, crystal length, and impact point distance to the PMTs.
4. Conclusions The LIDAL–ALTEA detector has been simulated with FLUKA and the Monte Carlo results have been used to optimize the LIDAL design. A LIDAL prototype and ALTEA detector have been tested using proton beam: simulations are in agreement with results. In particular, time resolutions of the order of 80 ps have been measured for protons in the energy range from 70 to 230 MeV with the LIDAL prototype. These results will contribute to enhance the PID [2], when the Time Of Flight (from LIDAL) and the LET (from ALTEA) measurements will be combined.
modulus. Particle identification will be achieved by combining TOF and LET measurements. 3. Simulation and test beam results The LIDAL prototype described in [2], made with the same scintillator material and provided with an electronic chain with the same major components of the flight model, and the ALTEA were tested under a test beam at the Proton Therapy Center TIFPA-Trento separately. Data from test beam and the simulation of the whole detector, based on the FLUKA Monte Carlo code [3,4], have been used to optimize the LIDAL final design. In Fig. 2 it is shown the simulated number of optical photons collected at the PMTs for scintillators of two possible lengths (9, 18 cm) to match the area covered by ALTEA, as a function of the impact point distance from the PMTs and of the proton energy. The length of 9 cm has been chosen to maximize granularity and light collection, while the scintillator thickness of 4 mm optimizes the signal rise time to further improve the TOF measurement precision avoiding front end electronics saturation when the detector is traversed by heavy ions present in the cosmic radiation. For a proton energy of 228 MeV, a time resolution of 82 ps (𝜎) has been measured, as shown in Fig. 3. This value obtained with the LIDAL prototype, similar to the ones measured at lower energies (70–200 MeV), was already better than the design goal of 120 ps. The simulation has been also used and validated to study the ALTEA detector system exposed to a mono-energetic proton beam.
Acknowledgments The authors thank the Trento Proton Therapy Center for the allocation of beam time and Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Italy for financial support. References [1] V. Zaconte, et al., High energy radiation fluences at ISS-USLab: Ion discrimination and particle abundances, Rad. Meas. 45 (2010). [2] A. Rizzo, et al., A compact time of flight detector for space applications: The LIDAL system, Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 898 (2018) 98–104. [3] A. Ferrari, et al., FLUKA: A multiparticle transport code, no.004.4:539.1, CERN2005-010; INFN-TC-2005-11;SLAC-R-773. [4] G. Battistoni, et al., The FLUKA code: Description and benchmarking, AIP Conf. Proc. 896 (2007) 31–49.
2 Please cite this article in press as: M.C. Morone, et al., A compact Time-Of-Flight detector for radiation measurements in a space habitat: LIDAL–ALTEA, Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.09.139.