Energy resolution of gas ionization chamber for high-energy heavy ions

Abstract

The energy resolution is reported for high-energy heavy ions with energies of nearly 340 MeV/nucleon and was measured using a gas ionization chamber filled with a 90%Ar/10%CH 4 gas mixture. We observed that the energy resolution is proportional to the inverse of the atomic number of incident ions and to the inverse-square-root of the gas thickness. These results are consistent with the Bethe–Bloch formula for the energy loss of charged particles and the Bohr expression for heavy ion energy straggling. In addition, the influence of high-energy δ-rays generated in the detector on the energy deposition is discussed.