Development of an experimental system for biological studies: Scintillation and solid-track detectors as dose monitors

Abstract In the context of radiobiological and radiotoxicological studies, the development of a charged-particle beam for irradiation of biological cell culture provides an opportunity to precisely control and adjust the dose and the dose rate delivered to the cells. H + and He 2+ ions are used in an energy range of 1–16 MeV at the cell entrance. A multiple scattering method of the ions on a gold foil is used to enable homogeneous irradiation of a large sample (about 1 cm 2 ). All intermediate foils traversed by the ions before impacting the cells are selected so as to limit the degradation of the beam characteristics, such as energy loss, and energy and angular straggling. The number of impacted ions is checked indirectly using a Faraday cup system at high beam flux (> 10 6 ions/cm 2 / s ) or directly using a NE102 scintillator and a CR39 solid nuclear track detector. In addition, a control of the particle energy is performed using a CR39 detector. Finally, the dose delivered by the ion and the dose contribution of the secondary emission are estimated. This report describes the characteristics of the irradiation system and of the experimental procedure.