Proton irradiation of plastic scintillator bars for POLAR-2

• Published in: Experimental astronomy Vol. 56; no. 2-3; pp. 355 - 370
• Main Authors: Mianowski, Slawomir, De Angelis, Nicolas, Brylew, Kamil, Hulsman, Johannes, Kowalski, Tomasz, Kusyk, Sebastian, Mianowska, Zuzanna, Mietelski, Jerzy, Rybka, Dominik, Swakon, Jan, Wrobel, Damian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Absorption spectra; Activation analysis; Astronomy; Background radiation; Chemistry and Earth Sciences; Computer Science; Cosmic rays; Emission analysis; Emission spectra; Gamma ray bursts; Gamma rays; Observations and Techniques; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Proton irradiation; Scintillation counters; Space stations; Statistics for Engineering; Protons; POLAR-2; Plastic scintillator; Cosmic rays; Radiation
• ISSN: 0922-6435; 1572-9508
• DOI: 10.1007/s10686-023-09906-8

POLAR-2, a plastic scintillator based Compton polarimeter, is currently under development and planned for a launch to the China Space Station in 2025. It is intended to shed a new light on our understanding of Gamma-Ray Bursts by performing high precision polarization measurements of their prompt emission. The instrument will be orbiting at an average altitude of 383 km with an inclination of 42° and will be subject to background radiation from cosmic rays and solar events. In this work, we tested the performance of plastic scintillation bars, EJ-200 and EJ-248M from Eljen Technology, under space-like conditions, that were chosen as possible candidates for POLAR-2. Both scintillator types were irradiated with 58 MeV protons at several doses from 1.89 Gy(corresponding to about 13 years in space for POLAR-2) up to 18.7 Gy, that goes far beyond the expected POLAR-2 life time. Their respective properties, expressed in terms of light yield, emission and absorption spectra, and activation analysis due to proton irradiation are discussed. Scintillators activation analyses showed a dominant contribution of β + decay with a typical for this process gamma-ray energy line of 511 keV.