In-site measurement of intensity of proton beam using film scintillator

In proton single-event-effects experiments, and proton accelerators for advanced researches, precise measurement of proton beam current is important for reliability and accuracy of the experiments. Traditional detection methods, such as Faraday cup, Si (Au) surface barrier detector, and diamond detector, are of beam-block type measurements, where changes in proton beam current can hardly be monitored in-site. In this paper, film scintillators are used to detect the proton beam. Protons travel through the film scintillator, deposit part of the energy and make the scintillator emit lights, which are collected by a photomultiplier tube. Response of the film scintillator to protons are calculated and verified by experiments with proton beams at 3-10 MeV from the 2 x 6 MeV tandem accelerator at Peking University. (authors)