Systematic studies of scintillation detector with timing resolution of 10 ps for heavy ion beam

We have tested Time-Of-Flight detectors consisting of several combinations of scintillators and photomultiplier tubes for the identification of produced heavy ion beam. Timing resolution of 6.8 ps (RMS) is achieved with energy deposited of 150-160 MeV in the plastic scintillator, where 40Ar beam is used as a primary beam at the total energies of 3.8 GeV. Our systematic studies suggest the importance of maximizing the number of photoelectrons, where the timing resolution seems to be scaled by the pulse height according to the characteristic function of the photomultiplier tube. In addition, scintillator with faster timing property seems to be also essential for better timing resolution. ? 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.EI03377-38851