Low dose rate evaluations of long plastic scintillator plates and Bicron G2-doped wavelength shifting fibers

Electromagnetic calorimeter modules are being constructed for the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer that will utilize plastic plate scintillators that can be over 4 meters in length. At shower maximum, it is expected that up to 100 Gray may be deposited over a ten year lifetime in the detector elements. Although it is believed that PVT-based scintillators are radiation-hard at that level, the large size of the plates motivated an ageing test of a 2 meter long sample so as to gain a realistic estimate of the loss in intrinsic light output and especially in attenuation performance of the chosen scintillator (Bicron BC412). A test setup was designed so that the sample was irradiated (by a /sup 60/Co line source) at a rate sufficiently low (0.5 Gray/hr) to allow complete diffusion of oxygen into the material during the irradiation. Additionally, in order to ensure complete diffusion and to gain a pessimistic estimate of damage, a pure oxygen atmosphere was circulated through the sample container during the irradiation, and the total dose was increased to a total of 160 Gray. Within the same setup, tests were also made of two additional materials: (1) a 1 meter long sample of an uniquely bright, fast green scintillator with superior attenuation properties, and (2) a customized acrylic scintillator (with a high doping level of fluors) read out by embedded (into smooth grooves cut into the surface of the scintillator) wavelength shifting fibers doped with the same green fluor as the aforementioned scintillator. The data indicates that the BC412 shows no loss in intrinsic light output, but does have an attenuation loss amounting to 10% at 1 meter and 16% at 2 meters. The fast green scintillator (and fibers) showed no damage. When read out by WLS fibers, the acrylic scintillator displayed a loss in intrinsic light output, but no change in attenuation.< >