Detection of single swift heavy ions with a system based on charge coupled devices

Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs), an arrangement of a few 100 000 photo-electric cells on a plane able to store the charge carriers liberated by the penetration of a particle, were applied for radiobiological investigations with single swift heavy ions performed at accelerators. For the extension of these experiments to unknown radiation fields, during space flights for instance, the projectile parameters energy and atomic number have to be estimated. For this purpose the angular distribution of δ-electrons is analyzed, which are ejected from a foil arranged over the microchip by heavy projectiles and which are detected in the CCD. The feasibility of this method regarding energy resolution and projectile identification is discussed.