The response of scintillators to heavy ions-I. Plastics

The response of various scintillator detectors to ions of A=1-84 and energies E/A=5-30 MeV has been measured and found to be linear above an energy of 100 MeV. Results are presented for a typical organic plastic scintillator including parameterizations of the data as a function of Z, A, and energy. These results are applicable to the use of scintillators as heavy-ion detectors, with one calibration point giving a normalization that allows use of the whole set of curves. The response functions are compared to previous parametrizations at lower energies and discussed in terms of the theory of delta -ray formation in the scintillator.