THE DETERIORATION DEPTH IN ZnS:Ag UNDER PROLONGED BOMBARDMENT BY HEAVY IONS
Local regions on a ZnS:Ag phosphor sample were bombarded by a large number (~1014 per cm2) of heavy ions. This irradiation damaged the phosphor to various depths which depended on the energy of the deteriorating ions. These depths were determined by measuring the energy loss of energetic hydrogen projectiles as they passed through the damaged phosphor regions. It was found that the deterioration depths increase approximately as the square root of the incident energy and for the heavier projectiles (40Ar and 84Kr) these depths are about an order of magnitude larger than the corresponding ranges predicted by the Lindhard theory. No direct correlation, however, between the deterioration depth and the range of the heavier ions is implied.