Particle identification by means of channeling radiation in high collimated beams

The channeling radiation is emitted by fast charged particles crossing a crystal target in a direction nearly parallel to the crystal axis or planar directions. The incident particles are trapped in the potential wells due to the crystal lattice, resulting in a coherence effect in the emitted radiation. Since the total energy of the emitted radiation depends on the Lorentz factor as γ 2 , channeling radiation can be applied to discriminate between different particles with the same momentum in a collimated beam. To study this application of the channeling radiation, we have performed a beam test campaign at the CERN PS-T9 and SPS-H4 facilities using a 500 μ m thick 〈 1 1 0 〉 silicon crystal. A NaI calorimeter has been used to detect the channeling gamma-rays produced in the crystal. The electron (positron) pion identification performance has been studied. The preliminary results will be shown and the perspectives will be discussed.