Development of a hard X-ray polarimeter for solar flares and gamma-ray bursts

Author

McConnell, M.L. ; Forrest, D.J. ; Macri, J. ; McClish, M. ; Osgood, M. ; Ryan, J.M. ; Vestrand, W.T. ; Zanes, C.

Author_Institution

Space Sci. Center, New Hampshire Univ., Durham, NH, USA

Volume

45

Issue

3

fYear

1998

fDate

6/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

910

Lastpage

914

Abstract

We describe recent work on the development of a Compton scatter polarimeter for measuring the polarization of hard X-rays (100-300 keV) from astrophysical sources. Results from measurements with a laboratory prototype are summarized, along with comparisons to Monte Carlo simulations. We also present our latest design concept, which envisions a complete polarimeter module on the front end of a 5-inch position-sensitive PMT. Although the emphasis of our development effort is towards measuring hard X-rays from solar flares, our latest design has the advantage that it is sensitive over a rather large field-of-view (>1 steradian), a feature that makes the design especially attractive for γ-ray burst studies

Keywords

Compton effect; Monte Carlo methods; X-ray astronomy; X-ray detection; astronomical instruments; cosmic ray apparatus; gamma-ray sources (astronomical); polarimeters; solar flares; solid scintillation detectors; γ-ray burst studies; 100 to 300 keV; Monte Carlo simulations; astrophysical sources; gamma-ray bursts; hard X-ray polarimeter; hard X-rays; position-sensitive PMT; solar flares; Detectors; Electric variables measurement; Electromagnetic scattering; Energy measurement; Extraterrestrial measurements; Gamma ray bursts; Laboratories; Particle scattering; Polarization; X-ray scattering;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.682665

Filename

682665