Results of a preliminary low dose rate irradiation of selected plastic scintillating fibers

Within the past few years, a concerted effort has been mounted to increase the radiation tolerance of organic scintillators for use in detectors at the proposed SSC and LHC high luminosity hadron colliders. In particualr, there is a general interest in using plastic scintillaters in the form of optical fibers for both tracking and calorimetric applications. Such a fiber would have a diameter of about 0.5-1.0 mm and consist of a scintillating core (typically doped polystyrene) surrounded by a thin cladding of lower index of refraction material (usually acrylic) to provide the required waveguide character. It is accepted that standard blue-emitting fibers such as SCSFF-38 and BCF-10 will suffer unacceptable levels of damage in the collider environment. As a result of this, newer, more radiation tolerant scintillators have been formulated. A low dose rate irradiation of selected plastic scintillating fibers has been completed (700 rad/hr to 1 Mrad). A second run is planned in order to make a more thorough study. This first run has indicated that 3HF-doped fibers suffer significantly less damage than a set of standard blue-emitting scintillating fibers