Measurement of scintillation light quenching for protons in a selection of rare earth inorganic scintillators

Scintillation type detectors are commonly calibrated using gamma sources to understand their energy-dependent response. However, this response varies when detecting light ions due to quenching effects; the non-proportional light response of scintillators from the detection of light ions (p, d, t, ³He, ⁴He, ..) versus electrons (gamma-rays). Using three distinct types of rare earth inorganic scintillators, Y₂SiO₅(YSO:Ce), Y₃Al₅O₁₂(YAG:Ce), and Gd₃Al₂Ga₃O₁₂ (GAGG:Ce), we measured the scintillation light output from incident protons with energies that range from 1-25 MeV. Energies over this range were reached using a 3 MV tandem accelerator and two types of nuclear reactions: elastic scattering off of an Au target and the ³He(d,p)⁴He reaction from an ErD₂ target. Using Birks Law, we extracted the quenching parameters to understand the non-proportionality effect associated with these scintillation materials. Moreover, by testing three different GAGG crystals, which vary on their dopant concentrations, we investigated the effects of dopant concentration on quenching. Also, we investigated temperature effects by collecting data at temperatures ranging from 20° C to 40° C. Preliminary results from these measurements will be presented.