Progress on the development of a novel Energy Loss Optical Scintillation System for heavy-ion PID*

The Energy Loss Optical Scintillation System (ELOSS) is a proposed high-scintillation gaseous detector used for atomic number identification of rare, short-lived atomic nuclei. ELOSS will function as part of the focal-plane detector system of the S800 spectrograph [1] for particle identification (PID) in nuclear physics experiments at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). State-of-the-art experimental equipment like ELOSS will tap into FRIB’s unprecedented discovery potential by studying isotopes at high beam rate and with high performance, resulting in a broad impact on radiation-detection physics and technology. ELOSS also represents a prototype for the development of PID technologies of other planned and future spectrometers, such as the High Rigidity Spectrometer [2].

     This work will focus on the operational mechanism and performance of ELOSS, including the description of the optical readout based on photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), an expected energy/timing resolution (respectively 0.4% and <200 psec), and high rate capability (up to ~80 kHz limited only by the DAQ). We also discuss the work performed for a full characterization of the optical readout, including PMT gain calibration and gain matching, both of which are needed to achieve the optimal ELOSS performance.