Light charged ion measurements and monte carlo calculations from thick targets bombarded by protons and heavy ions

The data presented in this work are from experiments performed in November 2016 and November 2017 at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The secondary light charged ions (Z=1 and 2 ions) and neutrons produced by 400-, 800-, and 2500-AMeV protons and 400-, 800-, and 1500-AMeV He, C, Si, Fe ions bombarding thick targets (20, 40, and 60 g/cm² aluminum and high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and 20 and 60 g/cm² combination of aluminum and HDPE) were measured with organic liquid scintillators and sodium iodide (NaI) detectors. The organic liquid scintillators were positioned at 10°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 80°, and 135° with respect to the beam direction, while NaI detectors were placed at 10° and 30° off the beam axis. The double-differential thick-target secondary light charged ion yields measured by organic liquid scintillators are of main interest here. In the analysis, after applying pulse shape discrimination to separate protons, deuterons, tritons, helium-3, and helium-4 particles, the time of flight technique was used to produce the secondary charged particle angular-energy spectra. Additionally, the spectra were compared with simulation results using the Monte Carlo simulation code, PHITS version 2.88. To obtain favorable statistics in PHITS calculations, ring-type detectors were modeled, which have the same distances and equivalent angles with the experimental setup. These experimental data will be integrated into the uncertainty analysis for NASA to optimize future GCR shielding design.