16 - 21 June 2024
Yokohama, Japan
Conference 13093 > Paper 13093-219
Paper 13093-219

Test and characterization of finely segmented pixel CZT detectors for future hard x-ray missions

On demand | Presented live 19 June 2024

Abstract

The NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) mission was launched in 2012, and it has successfully deployed the first orbiting telescopes to focus high energy X-ray (3 - 79 keV) light, providing a wealth of new information on high-energy X-rays sources. Follow-up missions, such as the proposed HEX-P, BEST, and FORCE, could perform a deeper black hole census providing a more refined measurement of black hole spins, allowing for greater knowledge about supermassive black holes. These missions are motivated by the recent breakthroughs in the hard X-ray mirror technologies, where mirrors, either made of monolithic silicon segments, or made directly or via replication of shells, demonstrate the feasibility of making hard X-ray mirrors with angular resolutions of 5-10 arc-seconds Half Power Diameter (HPD) compared to the NuSTAR’s 1 arc-minute HPD. Such a high angular resolution requires matched detectors with higher degree of segmentation to fully benefit from the achievable improved spatial resolution. In the above framework, the HEXID ASIC, a novel pixelated front-end suitable for reading out a finely segmented CZT sensor with 150 μm pixel pitch in a hexagonal arrangement has been developed. This readout pixelated chip is capable of processing photon-generated charge packets over a large dynamic range (from 2 keV up to 180 keV), while keeping a low input noise (ENC <20 e-). In this work, the initial characterization of the ASIC prototype will be presented.

Presenter

Brookhaven National Lab. (United States)
Giovanni Pinaroli is a detector scientist at Instrumentation Division in Brookhaven National Laboratory. His research interests are detectors for imaging and spectroscopy application spanning from Soft X-ray to Hard X-ray and Gamma-ray energy regime.
Application tracks: Astrophotonics
Presenter/Author
Brookhaven National Lab. (United States)
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Brookhaven National Lab. (United States)
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Brookhaven National Lab. (United States)
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Brookhaven National Lab. (United States)
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Brookhaven National Lab. (United States)
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Washington Univ. in St. Louis (United States)