Radiation hardness of the PIBETA detector components

Abstract

We have examined long term changes in signal amplitude gain, energy resolution and detection efficiency for the active components of the PIBETA detector system. Beam defining plastic scintillation counters were operated in a ~1 MHz stopped $π^+$ beam for a period of 297 days, accumulating radiation doses of up to 2 Mrad. Detectors in the charged particle tracking system--a pair of cylindrical multi-wire proportional chambers and a thin plastic scintillation barrel-shaped hodoscope array--were irradiated during the same running period with an average dose of ~40 krad. Individual CsI(undoped crystal) calorimeter detectors received an average dose of ~120 rad, mainly from photons, positrons and protons originating from $π^+$ hadronic interactions as well as from $π^+$ and $μ^+$ weak decays at rest in the active target.