Design of a scattering polarimeter for hard X-ray astronomy

The design of a new hard X-ray Compton scattering polarimeter based on scintillating fibres technology is presented and studied in detail by means of Monte Carlo calculations. Several different configurations and materials have been tested in order to optimise the sensitivity in the medium/high energy X-ray band. A high sensitivity over the energy band 20–200 keV is obtained for a two material configuration. The advantages deriving from employing a new scintillating material, the YAP (YAlO3), are also discussed.