Study of projectile fragmentation in the reaction (158 A GeV) Pb+Pb using CR-39

The fragmentation of Pb ions at 158 A GeV energy produced in the interaction with Pb target has been studied using a CR-39 track detector. A stack comprising of 64 detectors was prepared such that a target of I cm thickness was sandwiched between the sheets of CR-39. The purpose of this exposure geometry was to calibrate CR-39 with respect to relativistic heavy ions as well as to study the fragmentation of Pb ions at 158 A GeV energy. The exposure was carried out at the SPS beam facility of CERN at normal incidence with a fluence of similar to 1500 ion/cm(2). Two detectors from the exposed stack have been selected for this study: one before and the other after the target material. After etching, the detectors were scanned using an optical microscope and the etched track lengths and the diameters of the track openings were measured manually. Considering that the lengths of tracks provide the best charge resolution for Z > 65, we have measured track lengths for a sufficiently large number of fragments to identify individual charge states for 65 < Z < 83. The total charge-changing cross section has also been determined. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.