Volume reflection of 1-GeV protons by a bent silicon crystal

The volume reflection of 1-GeV protons by a bent crystal has been observed. The crystal is made of single crystal silicon. The (111) atomic planes are bent owing to the elastic quasimosaicity effect, which makes it possible to reduce the crystal length for a beam to 30 µm. It is found that the probability of the reflection effect is higher than the probability of the channeling effect (0.71 vs. 0.63), and the deflection angle of the protons reflected inside the crystal is equal to 1.39 ± 0.04 in terms of the critical angle for channeling under the conditions of the experiment (170 µrad). The width of the reflected peak is equal to 1.76 ± 0.04 in the same units. The protons that are not involved in channeling at the angular position of maximum channeling undergo volume reflection and are deflected in the direction opposite to the channeled beam by the angle 1.01 ± 0.05 in terms of the critical angle for channeling. The width of the reflected peak is equal to 1.94 ± 0.08 in the same units.