Development of a Segmented Scintillator for Decay Studies

A new detector was developed, which will enable future studies of neutron-rich isotopes. It is intended for use in fragmentation type experiments, which require segmentation in order to enable implantation-decay correlations. In addition, the detector requires good timing resolution for neutron time-of-flight experiments. A Position Sensitive Photo-Multiplier Tube (PSPMT) from Hamamatsu coupled with a fast pixelated plastic scintillator was used. Position localization of the nuclear radiation interaction with the detector has been achieved for energies up to 5 MeV. The detector provides sub-nanosecond time resolution through the use of a pulse-shape analysis algorithm, which is sufficient for time-of-flight experiments. The detector was tested with a laser pulser in order to simulate 1 GeV implantation energy and found to be capable to be used with high-energy heavy ions.