Results on damage induced by high-energy protons in LYSO calorimeter crystals

Abstract: Lutetium-Yttrium Orthosilicate doped with Cerium (LYSO:Ce), as a bright scintillating crystal, is a candidate for calorimetry applications in strong ionizing-radiation fields and large high-energy hadron fluences as are expected at the CERN Large Hadron Collider after the planned High-Luminosity upgrade. There, proton-proton collisions will produce fast hadron fluences up to ~5E14/cm^2 in the large-rapidity regions of the calorimeters. The performance of LYSO:Ce has been investigated, after exposure to different fluences of 24 GeV/c protons. Measured changes in optical transmission as a function of proton fluence are presented, and the evolution over time due to spontaneous recovery at room temperature is studied. The activation of materials will also be an issue in the described environment. Studies of the ambient dose induced by LYSO and its evolution with time, in comparison with other scintillating crystals, have also been performed through measurements and FLUKA simulations.