Cyclotron Tests to Determine the Response of Solid-State Detectors to Protons of Energies 50 to 160 MeV for Use in a Proton Spectrometer

Tests were conducted at the 160-Mev Harvard cyclotron on fully depleted solid-state detectors. This work was done in conjunction with a feasibility study of a proposed proton spectrometer consisting of two dE/dx detectors in a coincident telescope arrangement that can analyze protons over an energy range 0.5 Mev to greater than 200 Mev. The surface barrier sensors were exposed to protons of energies varying from 50 to 160 Mev to determine the response of these sensors to high-energy protons. The two major parameters to be determined were the most probable energy loss in the detector by protons of energy E and the resolution of the energy loss distribution. The results of the tests will be compared with the Symon treatment of the Landau effect. The proposed. proton spectrometer will also be discussed briefly.