ProtoEXIST2 (P2) was a prototype imaging x-ray detector plane developed for wide-field time-domain astrophysics (TDA) in the 5 to 200 keV energy band. It was composed of an 8 × 8 array of 5 mm thick, 2 cm × 2 cm pixelated (32 × 32) CdZnTe (CZT) detectors with a 0.6-mm pitch that utilize the NuSTAR ASIC (NuASIC) for readout. During the initial detector development process leading up to postflight examination of the entire detector plane, distortions in expected pixel positions and shapes were observed in a significant fraction of the detectors. The High Resolution Energetic x-ray Imager (HREXI) calibration facility (HCF) was designed and commissioned to improve upon these early experiments and to rapidly map out and characterize pixel nonuniformities and defects within CZT detector planes at resolutions down to 50 μm. Using this facility, the subpixel level detector response of P2 was measured at 100 μm5 resolution and analyzed to extract and evaluate the area and profile of individual pixels, their morphology across the entire P2 detector plane for comparison with previous measurements and to provide additional characterization. In this article, we evaluate the imaging performance of a coded-aperture telescope using the observed pixel morphology for P2 detectors. This investigation will serve as an initial guide for detector selection in the development of HREXI detector planes, for the future implementation of the 4pi X-Ray Imaging Observatory (4piXIO)6 mission, which aims to provide simultaneous and continuous imaging of the full sky (4π sr) in the 3 to 200 keV energy band with ≃2 arcmin angular resolution and ≃10 arcsec source localization, as well as other, future coded-aperture instruments.
Detector commanding, processing and readout of spaceborne instrumentation is often accomplished with application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). The ASIC designed for the nuclear spectroscopic telescope array (NuSTAR) mission enables future tiled CdZnTe (CZT) detector array readout for x-ray detectors, such as the high resolution energetic x-ray imager (HREXI). Modified NuSTAR ASIC (NuASIC) gain settings have been implemented for HREXI’s broader targeted imaging energy range (3 to 300 keV) compared with NuSTAR (2 to 79 keV), which may require updated NuASIC internal parameters for optimal energy resolution. To reach HREXI’s targeted low energy threshold, we have also enabled the NuASIC’s “charge pump mode,” which introduces an additional tuning parameter. We describe the mechanics of the NuASIC’s adjustable parameters and use our recently developed ASIC test stand to probe a “bare” NuASIC using its internal test pulser. We record the effects of parameter tuning on the device’s electronics noise and low energy threshold and report the optimal set of parameters for HREXI’s updated gain setting. We detail a semiautomated procedure to derive the optimal parameters for each of HREXI’s large area closely tiled NuASIC/CZT detectors to expedite instrument integration.
Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) are used in space-borne instruments for signal processing and detector readout. The electrical interface of these ASICs to frontend printed circuit boards is commonly accomplished with wire bonds. Through silicon via (TSV) technology has been proposed as an alternative interconnect technique that will reduce assembly complexity of ASIC packaging by replacing wire bonding with flip-chip bonding. TSV technology is advantageous in large detector arrays where TSVs enable close detector tiling on all sides. Wafer-level probe card testing of TSV ASICs is frustrated by solder balls introduced onto the ASIC surface for flip-chip bonding that hamper alignment. Therefore, we developed the ASIC test stand (ATS) to enable rapid screening and characterization of individual ASIC die. We successfully demonstrated ATS operation on ASICs originally developed for CdZnTe detectors on the Nuclear Spectroscopic and Telescope Array (NuSTAR) mission that were later modified with TSVs in a via-last process. We tested both backside blind-TSVs and frontside through-TSVs, with results from internal test pulser measurements that demonstrate performance equal to or exceeding the probe card wafer-level testing data. The ATS can easily be expanded or duplicated to parallelize ASIC screening for large area imaging detectors of future space programs.
The REgolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) is a soft x-ray spectrometer and the student collaboration instrument aboard NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission. REXIS utilizes MIT Lincoln Laboratory CCID-41 x-ray detectors coated with a directly deposited optical blocking filter (OBF) with a thickness of 320 nm. The aluminum coating, developed at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, is designed to block visible light from the detector, to maintain high sensitivity to soft x-rays in the presence of reflected sunlight from the surface of the target asteroid Bennu. The scientific objective for the REXIS instrument is to measure the stimulated x-ray flux fluoresced from Bennu to discern elemental abundances present on the asteroid’s surface. The coating technique applied for blocking visible light had not previously been used on the CCD-41s in an extended space flight mission. The performance of the OBF on the flight detectors was not characterized before and after environmental stress testing. Therefore, to mature the OBF to technology readiness level (TRL) 6, the flight spare detectors were tested while the instrument was on the way to the asteroid. The flight spare hardware underwent vibration and thermal environmental stress testing to test the durability and effectiveness of the OBF. This testing informed our expectations of the in-flight OBF once it reached the asteroid and helped mature the TRL level of this directly deposited OBF. We discuss the setup and results of those tests and address the performance of the flight OBF at the asteroid. We conclude that depositing an aluminum OBF onto the surface of a charge-coupled device is able to withstand stresses of launch and an extended life-mission in interplanetary space.
The High-Resolution Energetic X-ray Imager SmallSat Explorer (HSE) is a proposed wide-field, hard X-ray (3-300 keV) coded aperture telescope. Operating a closely tiled array of pixelated CdZnTe (CZT) detectors, HSE seeks to rapidly localize short gamma ray bursts (GRBs) resulting from neutron star and black hole mergers and search for faint undiscovered black hole low mass x-ray binaries. The spectral signatures of these phenomena fall off as a power law, thereby motivating the improvement of HSE’s hard x-ray band coverage at lower energies. This is achievable by tuning HSE’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) ASIC detector readout and operating in a charge pumping mode. This can extend energy band coverage to as low as 2-3 keV, but requires careful independent tuning of each of the instrument’s ASIC devices. An optimization procedure for efficiently tuning the detector readout via commandable ASIC registers is reported.
Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) are commonly used to efficiently process the signals from sensors and detectors in space. Wire bonding is a space-qualified technique of making interconnections between ASICs and their substrate packaging board for power, control, and readout of the ASICs. Wire bonding is nearly ubiquitous in modern space programs, but their exposed wires can be prone to damage during assembly and subject to electric interference during operations. Additional space around the ASICs needed for wire bonding also impedes efficient packaging of large arrays of detectors. Here, we introduce the through silicon vias (TSV) technology that replaces wire bonds and eliminates their shortcomings. We have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of implementing TSVs to existing ASIC wafers (a.k.a. a via-last process) developed for processing the x-ray signals from the x-ray imaging CdZnTe detectors on the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array small explorer telescope mission that was launched in 2012. While TSVs are common in the semiconductor industry, this is the first (to our knowledge) successful application for astrophysics imaging instrumentation. We expect that the TSV technology will simplify the detector assembly and thus will enable significant cost and schedule savings in assembly of large area CdZnTe detectors.
The High-Resolution Energetic X-ray Imager (HREXI) cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detector development program at Harvard is aimed at developing tiled arrays of finely pixelated CZT detectors for use in wide-field coded aperture 3 to 200 keV x-ray telescopes. A pixel size of ∼600 μm has already been achieved in the ProtoEXIST2 (P2) detector plane with CZT readout by the NuSTAR application-specific integrated circuits. This paves the way for even smaller than 300-μm pixels in the next-generation HREXI detectors. We describe a new HREXI calibration facility (HCF) that enables a high-resolution subpixel-level (100 μm) two-dimensional (2D) scan of a 256-cm2 tiled array of 2 × 2 cm2 CZT detectors illuminated by a bright x-ray AmpTek Mini-X tube source at timescales of around a day. HCF is a significant improvement from the previous apparatus used for scanning these detectors, which took ∼3 weeks to complete a one-dimensional (1D) scan of a similar detector plane. Moreover, HCF has the capability to scan a large tiled array of CZT detectors (32 × 32 cm2) at 100-μm resolution in the 10- to 50-keV energy range, which was not possible previously. We describe the design, construction, and implementation of HCF for the calibration of the P2 detector plane.
The High Resolution Energetic X-ray Imager (HREXI) is a coded-aperture imaging telescope that utilizes tiled CdZnTe (CZT) detectors to image cosmic x-ray sources and transients in the 3-200 keV energy band. A closely tiled array of 256 pixellated CZT detectors form the 1024 cm^2 detector plane of a proposed (Grindlay et al. 2019) SmallSat mission. This close tiling of the crystal units is achieved by Through-Silicon-Via (TSV) enabled readout ASICs that shrink the readout electronics footprint of the wire-bonded ASICs previously developed and incorporated on the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) mission. To close-tile large numbers of detectors, an efficient die-level ASIC screening method is required for the TSV-ASICs. The ASIC Test Stand (ATS) was developed (Violette et al. 2018, SPIE Proceedings) in order to enable rapid testing of die-level TSV-ASICs by precision alignment of a fixed array of spring-loaded pogo-pin probes to connect to the ASIC's 87 pads with a 225 micron pitch. Here we report ATS design improvements and results from testing ASIC energy resolution and stability using the commandable test pulser internal to the ASIC. Multiple ATS systems will enable rapid testing and selection of ASICs for large area detector arrays as needed for the HREXI SmallSat Prototype (HSP).
HSP was selected for the NASA Astrophysics Science SmallSat Study (AS3) program
as a SmallSat mission concept that will be proposed for a 1 – 2 year science mission to demonstrate performance and cost goals to enable a future Explorer-class SmallSat Constellation mission for the first simultaneous full-sky imager with 2X finer resolution. HSP is a 36 x 36deg (FWHM) coded aperture telescope with 16 x 16 CdZnTe detectors, each 20 x 20 x 3mm with 32 x 32 0.6mm pixels and ~1.5keV energy resolution. The 1024 cm^2 HSP imaging detector array views the sky through the Tungsten coded aperture mask (0.7 mm pixels) at 68cm, providing 4’ imaging and <30” source positions over the 3 – 200 keV band. This is mounted on a Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) SmallSat (S5) bus, with ~10arcsec pointing and star camera aspect, extends the capabilities of Swift/BAT and INTEGRAL/IBIS. HSP will promptly localize long and short GRBs and outbursts of X-ray transients: from nearby M dwarf flares, to BH-LMXB outbursts, Blazar flares and Jetted TDEs. HSP will daily-monitor the Galactic Bulge and adjacent Galactic plane and > 2 nearby OB association regions for 1 yr, providing high cadence light curves of black hole X-ray binaries (with low and high mass companions) in the Galaxy. HSP matches the on-axis sensitivity of Swift/BAT in the 15 – 200 keV band with 5X finer spatial resolution, and the simultaneous 3 – 15 keV imaging and spectra surpass MAXI with 15X finer spatial resolution, all within an ESPA class mission in LEO at ~500-600 km and <~30 deg inclination.
The High Resolution Energetic X-ray Imager (HREXI ) is a coded-aperture imaging telescope that utilizes a large closely-tiled array of CdZnTe (CZT) detectors, each 19.9 x 19.9 x 3mm with a 32 x 32 pixel (604μm) for coded aperture X-ray imaging (3 - 200 keV) of cosmic X-ray sources and transients. Each CZT crystal is read out by an ASIC incorporating, for the first time, Through Silicon Vias (TSVs). These TSVs replace the wire bonds for this ASIC, originally designed for the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) focusing hard X-ray telescope. The TSVs allow flip-chip bonding of the ASIC to the PCB board electronics for processing of the data. The new TSV-ASICs will enable closer tiling and larger imaging arrays which require faster, more efficient ASIC testing and calibration at the die level. We have designed and developed an ASIC Test Stand (ATS) for rapid ASIC testing prior to bonding to CZT. We demonstrate how ASIC die-level testing with the ATS can be performed rapidly with rigidly spaced micro-pogo pins supported by an FPGA readout.
The High-Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P) is a probe-class mission concept that will extend the reach of broadband (2-200 keV) X-ray observations, with 40 times the sensitivity of any previous mission in the 10-80 keV band and 10,000 times the sensitivity of any previous mission in the 80-200 keV band. HEX-P addresses key NASA science goals and is an important complement to ESA's L-class Athena mission. Working in coordination with Athena HEX-P will provide continuum measurements that are essential for interpreting Athena spectra. With angular resolution improved by more than an order of magnitude relative to NuSTAR, HEX-P will carry out an independent program aimed at addressing questions unique to the high energy X-ray band, such as the nature of the source that powers Active Galactic Nuclei, the evolution of black holes in obscured environments, and understanding of how compact binary systems form, evolve and influence galactic systems. With heritage from NuSTAR, HEX-P can be executed within the next decade with a budget less than double that of a Medium class Explorer (MIDEX) mission.
Wirebonds, although proven for space application and perceived necessary for hybrid sensors like CdZnTe (CZT) detectors, introduce assembly complexity and undesirable gaps between detector units. Thus, they pose a serious challenge in building a low cost large area detector. We are developing Through-Silicon Vias (TSVs) to make all connections (both power and data) through ASICs, which will eliminate wirebonds and enable simple direct flip-chip bonding between the ASIC and a substrate electronics layer. TSVs also enable a more compact layout of the ASIC, which reduces the inactive area of the detector plane, and thus enables nearly gaplessly tilable detector arrays. We demonstrate the first successful TSV implementation on ASICs used for CZT detectors onboard the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) mission as part of our program to develop large area CZT imagers for wide field coded aperture imaging.
OSIRIS-REx is the third spacecraft in the NASA New Frontiers Program and is planned for launch in 2016. OSIRIS-REx will orbit the near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu, characterize it, and return a sample of the asteroid’s regolith back to Earth. The Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) is an instrument on OSIRIS-REx designed and built by students at MIT and Harvard. The purpose of REXIS is to collect and image sun-induced fluorescent X-rays emitted by Bennu, thereby providing spectroscopic information related to the elemental makeup of the asteroid regolith and the distribution of features over its surface. Telescopic reflectance spectra suggest a CI or CM chondrite analog meteorite class for Bennu, where this primitive nature strongly motivates its study. A number of factors, however, will influence the generation, measurement, and interpretation of the X-ray spectra measured by REXIS. These include: the compositional nature and heterogeneity of Bennu, the time-variable solar state, X-ray detector characteristics, and geometric parameters for the observations. In this paper, we will explore how these variables influence the precision to which REXIS can measure Bennu’s surface composition. By modeling the aforementioned factors, we place bounds on the expected performance of REXIS and its ability to ultimately place Bennu in an analog meteorite class.
The OSIRIS-REx Mission was selected under the NASA New Frontiers program and is scheduled for launch in
September of 2016 for a rendezvous with, and collection of a sample from the surface of asteroid Bennu in 2019.
101955 Bennu (previously 1999 RQ36) is an Apollo (near-Earth) asteroid originally discovered by the LINEAR project in 1999 which has since been classified as a potentially hazardous near-Earth object. The REgolith X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) was proposed jointly by MIT and Harvard and was subsequently accepted as a student led instrument for the determination of the elemental composition of the asteroid's surface as well as the surface distribution of select elements through solar induced X-ray fluorescence. REXIS consists of a detector plane that contains 4 X-ray CCDs integrated into a wide field coded aperture telescope with a focal length of
20 em for the detection of regions with enhanced abundance in key elements at 50 m scales. Elemental surface distributions of approximately 50-200 m scales can be detected using the instrument as a simple collimator. An overview of the observation strategy of the REXIS instrument and expected performance are presented here.
The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) is designed to i) use the birth of stellar mass black holes, as
revealed by cosmic Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), as probes of the very first stars and galaxies to exist in the Universe.
Both their extreme luminosity (~104 times larger than the most luminous quasars) and their hard X-ray detectability over
the full sky with wide-field imaging make them ideal "back-lights" to measure cosmic structure with X-ray, optical and
near-IR (nIR) spectra over many sight lines to high redshift. The full-sky imaging detection and rapid followup narrowfield
imaging and spectroscopy allow two additional primary science objectives: ii) novel surveys of supermassive black
holes (SMBHs) accreting as very luminous but rare quasars, which can trace the birth and growth of the first SMBHs as
well as quiescent SMBHs (non-accreting) which reveal their presence by X-ray flares from the tidal disruption of
passing field stars; and iii) a multiwavelength Time Domain Astrophysics (TDA) survey to measure the temporal
variability and physics of a wide range of objects, from birth to death of stars and from the thermal to non-thermal
Universe. These science objectives are achieved with the telescopes and mission as proposed for EXIST described here.
The Infra-Red Telescope is a critical element of the EXIST (Energetic X-Ray Imaging Survey Telescope) observatory.
The primary goal of the IRT is to obtain photometric and spectroscopic measurements of high redshift
(≥6) gamma ray reaching to the epoque of reionization. The photometric and spectral capabilities of the IRT
will allow to use GRB afterglow as probes of the composition and ionization state of the intergalactic medium
of the young universe. A prompt follow up (within three minutes) of the transient discovered by the EXIST
makes IRT a unique tool for detection and study of these events in the infrared and optical wavelength, which
is particularly valuable at wavelengths unavailable to the ground based observatories. We present the results of
the mission study development on the IRT as part of the EXIST observatory.
The EXIST mission has been recently re-designed prior to being proposed to the ASTRO2010 Decadal Survey. One of
the most recent improvements has been the addition of a third instrument consisting of a powerful Soft X-ray Imager
(SXI) that will study in detail and help characterizing the high energy sources detected by the High Energy Telescope
(HET). The EXIST concept fully exploits the heritage of Swift in the fast follow-up of transients and in particular GRBs,
with 10 to 20 times more sensitivity in the high energy band (from 0.2 to 600 keV) and exceptional performance in the
near-IR/optical provided by the Infrared Telescope (IRT). SXI has an important role in extending by more than one
decade in energy, down to the soft X-rays the coverage of HET. Such combination will be fully exploited when
performing pointed observations. Within the EXIST follow-up program, foreseen during the second part of the mission,
SXI and HET will be able to collect high quality spectra for thousands of sources covering the energy range 0.1-
hundreds keV. Furthermore, while working in survey mode SXI will cover about half the sky in 2 years and will be able
to improve the location accuracy of many faint HET sources (reducing the positional uncertainty from 20 arcsec to ~ 1-2
arcsec). In this paper we will address the performance and the main scientific contributions expected from SXI.
The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) mission, submitted to the Decadal Survey, is a
multiwavelength observatory mainly devoted to the study of Super Massive Black Holes, Gamma Ray Bursts and other
transient sources. The set of instruments foreseen for EXIST includes a soft x-ray telescope (SXI), proposed as a
contribution of the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
We present the baseline design of the X-Ray camera for SXI telescope, that we have finalized under ASI contract. The
camera is based on a focal plane detector consisting of a 450 μm thick silicon pixel sensor sensitive, with high QE, in the
full SXI range (0.1-10 KeV), and capable of high energy resolution when operated in photon counting mode (E/dE ~ 47
at 6 keV), frame rate ~ 100-200 frames/s (enabling timing in the ms range), and spatial resolution matching the optical
characteristics of the mirror module. We provide an overview of the mechanical, thermal and electrical concept of the
camera.
The hard X-ray sky now being studied by INTEGRAL and Swift and soon by NuSTAR is rich with energetic phenomena
and highly variable non-thermal phenomena on a broad range of timescales. The High Energy Telescope (HET) on the
proposed Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) mission will repeatedly survey the full sky for rare and
luminous hard X-ray phenomena at unprecedented sensitivities. It will detect and localize (<20", at 5σ threshold) X-ray
sources quickly for immediate followup identification by two other onboard telescopes - the Soft X-ray imager (SXI)
and Optical/Infrared Telescope (IRT). The large array (4.5 m2) of imaging (0.6 mm pixel) CZT detectors in the HET, a
coded-aperture telescope, will provide unprecedented high sensitivity (~0.06 mCrab Full Sky in a 2 year continuous
scanning survey) in the 5 - 600 keV band. The large field of view (90° × 70°) and zenith scanning with alternating-orbital
nodding motion planned for the first 2 years of the mission will enable nearly continuous monitoring of the full
sky. A 3y followup pointed mission phase provides deep UV-Optical-IR-Soft X-ray and Hard X-ray imaging and
spectroscopy for thousands of sources discovered in the Survey. We review the HET design concept and report the
recent progress of the CZT detector development, which is underway through a series of balloon-borne wide-field hard
X-ray telescope experiments, ProtoEXIST. We carried out a successful flight of the first generation of fine pixel large
area CZT detectors (ProtoEXIST1) on Oct 9, 2009. We also summarize our future plan (ProtoEXIST2 & 3) for the
technology development needed for the HET.
The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) will continuously survey the full sky in scanning mode for 2-
years followed by a 3-years pointing phase. The mission includes three instruments: a High Energy coded mask
Telescope; a 1.1m aperture optical-IR Telescope; and a Soft X-ray Imager (SXI), sensitive in the 0.1-10 keV band. SXI
is proposed as a contribution of ASI-Italy, fully developed by Italian institutes. Here we will present the optical and
mechanical design of the SXI mirror module, that includes also a pre-collimator and a magnetic diverter to ensure a low
background on the detector. In particular we will describe the mirror module characteristics in term of effective area,
imaging capability, thermal requirement and mechanical properties. The current optical design foresees 26 shells
providing an effective area comparable to one XMM-Newton mirror module up to 3 keV. The realization of these shells
is based on the well-proven Nickel replication-process technology.
ProtoEXIST1 is a pathfinder for the EXIST-HET, a coded aperture hard X-ray telescope with a 4.5 m2 CZT
detector plane a 90x70 degree field of view to be flown as the primary instrument on the EXIST mission and
is intended to monitor the full sky every 3 h in an effort to locate GRBs and other high energy transients.
ProtoEXIST1 consists of a 256 cm2 tiled CZT detector plane containing 4096 pixels composed of an 8x8 array
of individual 1.95 cm x 1.95 cm x 0.5 cm CZT detector modules each with a 8 x 8 pixilated anode configured
as a coded aperture telescope with a fully coded 10° x 10° field of view employing passive side shielding and
an active CsI anti-coincidence rear shield, recently completed its maiden flight out of Ft. Sumner, NM on the
9th of October 2009. During the duration of its 6 hour flight on-board calibration of the detector plane was
carried out utilizing a single tagged 198.8 nCi Am-241 source along with the simultaneous measurement of the
background spectrum and an observation of Cygnus X-1. Here we recount the events of the flight and report
on the detector performance in a near space environment. We also briefly discuss ProtoEXIST2: the next
stage of detector development which employs the NuSTAR ASIC enabling finer (32×32) anode pixilation. When
completed ProtoEXIST2 will consist of a 256 cm2 tiled array and be flown simultaneously with the ProtoEXIST1
telescope.
The EXIST observatory planned for launch in the next decade will carry outstanding contributions in both Galactic and
Extragalactic science with a sensitivity about 10-20 better respect to the flown hard X-ray missions and full sky survey
capability. Designed mainly for the survey of SMBH and transients, thanks to the wide field of view (~70x90deg) and
large effective area of the High Energy Telescope (HET), the study of spectra and variability at all timescales of all types
of Galactic sources will be made possible. EXIST will be also capable to study in detail the Galactic Center (GC) in the
hard X-rays. This crowded region as observed recently by Chandra, Integral and Swift has been found to possibly host a
high number of high energy sources. In this work we report on the capabilities of EXIST to image the GC region and to
detect and characterize the different classes of sources on the basis of their known spectral and variability properties.
EXIST will perform the crucial observation tests to study the emission from Sgr A*, using the simultaneous observations
of IR and X-ray flares, searching for periodicity to study the Keplerian flow with NIR and/or X QPO, confirm or not the
high energy counterpart of SgrA* detected by INTEGRAL and define the spectral shape of the high energy tail. Finally,
EXIST can effectively and continuously monitor spectra from Sgr B2 to confirm the correlation of the iron line emission
with the hard X-ray continuum and establish its origin.
The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) is a proposed next generation multi-wavelength survey
mission. The primary instrument is a High Energy telescope (HET) that conducts the deepest survey for Gamma-ray
Bursts (GRBs), obscured-accreting and dormant Supermassive Black Holes and Transients of all varieties for immediate
followup studies by the two secondary instruments: a Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) and an Optical/Infrared Telescope (IRT).
EXIST will explore the early Universe using high redshift GRBs as cosmic probes and survey black holes on all scales.
The HET is a coded aperture telescope employing a large array of imaging CZT detectors (4.5 m2, 0.6 mm pixel) and a
hybrid Tungsten mask. We review the current HET concept which follows an intensive design revision by the HET
imaging working group and the recent engineering studies in the Instrument and Mission Design Lab at the Goddard
Space Flight Center. The HET will locate GRBs and transients quickly (<10-30 sec) and accurately (< 20") for rapid
(< 1-3 min) onboard followup soft X-ray and optical/IR (0.3-2.2 μm) imaging and spectroscopy. The broad energy
band (5-600 keV) and the wide field of view (~90º × 70º at 10% coding fraction) are optimal for capturing GRBs,
obscured AGNs and rare transients. The continuous scan of the entire sky every 3 hours will establish a finely-sampled
long-term history of many X-ray sources, opening up new possibilities for variability studies.
The EXIST (Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope) mission includes the 1.1 m optical Infra-Red Telescope
(IRT) which provides the capability to locate, identify, and obtain spectra of transient events, in particular GRB
afterglows at redshifts up to epoch of reionization. The instrument includes a high spatial resolution imager, low
spectral resolution spectrometer (R~ 30) and high resolution slit spectrometer (R~ 3000). This instrument, with
the observatory's rapid reaction response will quickly identify the GRB afterglow, measure its brightness curves,
redshift, measure spectral characteristics of the afterglows and measure absorption spectra of the intervening
intergalactic medium. With this instrument, high redshift GRBs become important tools for studying the growth
of structure, observing the processes through which the universe is reionized.
The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) is a mission that has been studied for the NASA Physics of the
Cosmos Program. EXIST will continuously survey the full sky by scanning for 2-years (with 2-3 interruptions per day
for GRB follow-up) followed by a 3-years pointing phase. The mission includes three instruments: a High Energy coded
mask Telescope; a 1.1m aperture optical-IR Telescope; and a Soft X-ray Imager (SXI), sensitive in the 0.1-10 keV band.
SXI is proposed as a contribution of ASI-Italy, fully developed by Italian institutes. The current optical design foresees
26 shells providing an effective area comparable to one XMM-Newton mirror module up to 3 keV and somewhat lower
from 3 to 10 keV. The realization of these shells is based on the well-proven Nichel replication-process technology. Here
we will present the optical design of the SXI mirror module and describe its characteristics in term of effective area and
imaging capability, summarizing also the characteristics of the full SXI telescope.
The SXI telescope is one of the three instruments on board EXIST, a multiwavelenght observatory in charge of
performing a global survey of the sky in hard X-rays searching for Supermassive Black Holes. One of the primary
objectives of EXIST is also to study with unprecedented sensitivity the most unknown high energy sources in
the Universe, like high redshift GRBs, which will be pointed promptly by the Spacecraft by autonomous trigger
based on hard X-ray localization on board. The recent addition of a soft X-ray telescope to the EXIST payload
complement, with an effective area of 950 cm2 in the energy band 0.2-3 keV and extended response up to 10 keV
will allow to make broadband studies from 0.1 to 600 keV. In particular, investigations of the spectra components
and states of AGNs and monitoring of variability of sources, study of the prompt and afterglow emission of GRBs
since the early phases, which will help to constrain the emission models and finally, help the identification of
sources in the EXIST hard X-ray survey and the characterization of the transient events detected. SXI will also
perform surveys: a scanning survey with sky coverage ~ 2 π and limiting flux of ~ 5 × 10-14 cgs plus other
serendipitous. We give an overview of the SXI scientific performance and also describe the status of its design
emphasizing how it has been derived by the scientific requirements.
The primary instrument of the proposed EXIST mission is a coded mask high energy telescope (the HET),
that must have a wide field of view and extremely good sensitivity. In order to achieve the performance goals
it will be crucial to minimize systematic errors so that even for very long total integration times the imaging
performance is close to the statistical photon limit. There is also a requirement to be able to reconstruct images
on-board in near real time in order to detect and localize gamma-ray bursts, as is currently being done by the
BAT instrument on Swift. However for EXIST this must be done while the spacecraft is continuously scanning
the sky. The scanning provides all-sky coverage and is also a key part of the strategy to reduce systematic errors.
The on-board computational problem is made even more challenging for EXIST by the very large number of
detector pixels (more than 107, compared with 32768 for BAT). The EXIST HET Imaging Technical Working
Group has investigated and compared numerous alternative designs for the HET. The selected baseline concept
meets all of the scientific requirements, while being compatible with spacecraft and launch constraints and with
those imposed by the infra-red and soft X-ray telescopes that constitute the other key parts of the payload. The
approach adopted depends on a unique coded mask with two spatial scales. Coarse elements in the mask are
effective over the entire energy band of the instrument and are used to initially locate gamma-ray bursts. A finer
mask component provides the good angular resolution needed to refine the burst position and reduces the cosmic
X-ray background; it is optimized for operation at low energies and becomes transparent in the upper part of the
energy band where an open fraction of 50% is optimal. Monte Carlo simulations and analytic analysis techniques
have been used to demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed design and of the two-step burst localization
procedure.
We report our progress on the development of pixellated imaging CZT detector arrays for our first-generation balloon-borne
wide-field hard X-ray (20 - 600 keV) telescope, ProtoEXIST1. Our ProtoEXIST program is a pathfinder for the
High Energy Telescope (HET) on the Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey telescope (EXIST), a proposed implementation of
the Black Hole Finder Probe. ProtoEXIST1 consists of four independent coded-aperture telescopes with close-tiled (~0.4
mm gaps) CZT detectors that preserve their 2.5mm pixel pitch. Multiple shielding/field-of-view configurations are
planned to identify optimal geometry for the HET in EXIST. The primary technical challenge in ProtoEXIST is the
development of large area, close-tiled modules of imaging CZT detectors (1000 cm2 for ProtoEXIST1), with all readout
and control systems for the ASIC readout vertically stacked. We describe the overall telescope configuration of
ProtoEXIST1 and review the current development status of the CZT detectors, from individual detector crystal units
(DCUs) to a full detector module (DM). We have built the first units of each component for the detector plane and have
completed a few Rev2 DCUs (2x2 cm2), which are under a series of tests. Bare DCUs (pre-crystal bonding) show high,
uniform ASIC yield (~70%) and ~30% reduction in electronics noise compared to the Rev1 equivalent. A Rev1 DCU
already achieved ~1.2% FWHM at 662 keV, and preliminary analysis of the initial radiation tests on a Rev2 DCU shows
~ 4 keV FWHM at 60 keV (vs. 4.7 keV for Rev1). We therefore expect about ≤1% FWHM at 662 keV with the Rev2 detectors.
One of the key aspects of a detector material for space-borne hard X-ray and gamma-ray telescopes is the rate of
prompt and delayed background events generated inside the material by charged and neutral particles striking the detector. These particles are Cosmic Rays, particles trapped in Earth's magnetic field, and secondaries
from Cosmic Ray interacting with the atmosphere and the spacecraft. Here, we present a preliminary study of
Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) and its behaviour in space environments. We have used the simulation package
MGGPOD to estimate the background of the CZT detectors in the proposed Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey
Telescope (EXIST) for possible orbital parameters. The EXIST mission will make use of ~6 m2 of >0.5 cm
thick CZT detectors to record cosmic X-rays in the energy range from 10 keV to 600 keV. The detectors will be
shielded by a fully or partly active shield. For the specific detector and shielding geometry considered here and
an orbit with a low (7°) inclination, the background rate is dominated by diffuse extragalactic photons below
~200 keV. Prompt and delayed hadronic backgrounds grow increasingly important above this energy, becoming
the main contributors to the total background above ~1 MeV. A fully active shield performs slightly better than
a half active/half passive shield.
We describe the detector development for a balloon-borne wide-field hard X-ray (20-600 keV) telescope, ProtoEXIST.
ProtoEXIST is a pathfinder for both technology and science of the proposed implementation of the Black Hole Finder
Probe, Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey telescope (EXIST). The principal technology challenge is the development of
large area, close-tiled modules of imaging CZT detectors (1000 cm2 for ProtoEXIST1). We review the updates of the
detector design and package concept for ProtoEXIST1 and report the current development status of the CZT detectors,
using calibration results of our basic detector unit - 2 x 2 x 0.5 cm CZT crystals with 2.5 mm pixels (8 x 8 array). The
current prototype (Rev1) of our detector crystal unit (DCU) shows ~4.5 keV electronics noise (FWHM), and the
radiation measurements show the energy resolution (FWHM) of the units is 4.7 keV (7.9%) at 59.5 keV, 5.6 keV (4.6%)
at 122 keV, and 7.6 keV (2.1%) at 356 keV. The new (Rev2) DCU with revised design is expected to improve the
resolution by ~30%.
A machine capable of digitizing two 8 inch by 10 inch (203 mm by 254 mm) glass astrophotographic plates or a single
14 inch by 17 inch (356 mm by 432 mm) plate at a resolution of 11 μm per pixel or 2309 dots per inch (dpi) in 92
seconds is described. The purpose of the machine is to digitize the ~500,000 plate collection of the Harvard College
Observatory in a five-year time frame. The digitization must meet the requirements for scientific work in astrometry,
photometry, and archival preservation of the plates. This paper describes the requirements for and the design of the
subsystems of the machine that was developed specifically for this task.
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Signal to noise ratio, Telescopes, Coded aperture imaging, Crystals, Device simulation, Monte Carlo methods, Image compression, Hard x-rays, Photons
EXIST is being studied as the Black Hole Finder Probe, one of the 3 Einstein Probe missions under NASA's Beyond Einstein program. The major science goals for EXIST include highly sensitive full-sky
hard X-ray survey in a very wide energy band of 5 - 600 keV. The scientific requirements of wide energy band (10-600 keV for the High Energy Telescope considered for EXIST) and large field of view (approximately 130° × 60° in the current design, incorporating an array of 18 contiguous very large area coded aperture telescopes) presents significant imaging challenges. The requirement of achieving high imaging sensitivity puts stringent limits on the uniformity and knowledge of systematics for the detector plane. In order to accomplish the ambitious scientific requirements of EXIST, it is necessary to implement many novel techniques. Here we present the initial results of our extensive Monte-Carlo simulations of coded mask imaging for EXIST to estimate the performance degradation due to various factors affecting the imaging such as the non-ideal detector plane and bright partially coded sources.
We outline our plan to develop ProtoEXIST, a balloon-borne prototype experiment for the Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) for the Black Hole Finder Probe. EXIST will consist of multiple wide-field hard X-ray coded-aperture telescopes. The current design of the EXIST mission employs two types of telescope systems: high energy telescopes (HETs) using CZT detectors, and low energy telescopes (LETs) using Si detectors. With ProtoEXIST, we will develop and demonstrate the technologies required for the EXIST HETs. As part of our development efforts, we also present recent laboratory measurements of the spectral response and efficiency variation of imaging CZT detectors on a fine scale (~0.5 mm). The preliminary results confirm the need for multi-pixel readouts and small inter-pixel gaps to achieve uniform spectral response and high detection efficiency across detectors.
The Energetic X-ray Survey Telesccope (EXIST) is under study for the propsed Black Hole Finder Probe, one of the three Einstein Probe missions in NASA's proposed Beyond Einstein Program. EXIST would have the capability to survey the full sky at 5-600 keV and enable black holes to be surveyed and studied on all scales. In particular, GRB's will be located at sensitivities and bandwidths much greater than with previous missions and likely yield constraints on the massive population III black holes. The measurements of hard X-ray polarization, thus far relatively unexplored, could also provide important clues about the GRB progenitor. In this paper, we report on the preliminary estimates to the sensitivity to GRB polarization with EXIST.
We report our in-depth study of Cd-Zn-Te (CZT) crystals to determine an optimum pixel and guard band configuration for Hard X-ray imaging and spectroscopy. We tested 20x20x5mm crystals with 8x8 pixels on a 2.46mm pitch. We have studied different types of cathode / anode contacts and different pixel pad sizes. We present the measurements of leakage current as well as spectral response for each pixel. Our I-V measurement setup is custom designed to allow automated measurements of the I-V curves sequentially for all 64 pixels, whereas the radiation properties measurement setup allows for interchangeable crystals with the same XAIM3.2 ASIC readout from IDEAS. We have tested multiple crystals of each type, and each crystal in different positions to measure the variation between individual crystals and variation among the ASIC channels. We also compare the same crystals with and without a grounded guard band deposited on the crystal side walls vs. a floating guard band and compare results to simulations. This study was carried out to find the optimum CZT crystal configuration for prototype detectors for the proposed Black-Hole Finder mission, EXIST.
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Crystals, Imaging systems, X-rays, Telescopes, Monte Carlo methods, Hard x-rays, X-ray telescopes, Signal to noise ratio, Electronics
The proposed black-hole finder mission EXIST will consist of multiple wide-field hard X-ray coded-aperture telescopes. The high science goals set for the mission require innovations in telescope design. In particular, wide energy band coverage and fine angular resolution require relatively thick coded masks and thick detectors compared to their pixel size, which may introduce mask self-collimation and depth-induced image blurring with conventional design approaches. Previously we proposed relatively simple solutions to these potential problems: radial hole for mask selfcollimation and cathode depth sensing detector for image blurring. We have now performed laboratory experiments to explore the potential of these two techniques. The experimental results show that the radial hole mask greatly alleviates mask self-collimation and a ~1 mm resolution depth-sensitive detector scheme can be relatively easily achieved for the large scale required for EXIST.
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Image resolution, Spatial resolution, Electrodes, Electrons, Astronomy, X-ray telescopes, Signal detection, X-rays, Signal to noise ratio
Determination of the photon interaction depth offers numerous advantages for an astronomical hard X-ray telescope. The interaction depth is typically derived from two signals: anode and cathode, or collecting and non-collecting electrodes. We present some preliminary results from our depth sensing detectors using only the anode pixel signals. By examining several anode pixel signals simultaneously, we find that we can estimate the interaction depth, and get sub-pixel 2-D position resolution. We discuss our findings and the requirements for future ASIC development.
Measuring the depth of interaction in thick Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride (CZT) detectors allows improved imaging and spectroscopy for hard X-ray imaging above 100 keV. The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) will employ relatively thick (5 - 10 mm) CZT detectors, which are required to perform the broad energy-band sky survey. Interaction depth information is needed to correct events to the detector "focal plane" for correct imaging and can be used to improve the energy resolution of the detector at high energies by allowing event-based corrections for incomplete charge collection. Background rejection is also improved by allowing low energy events from the rear and sides of the detector to be rejected. We present experimental results of intereaction depth sensing in a 5 mm thick pixellated Au-contact IMARAD CZT detector. The depth sensing was done by making simultaneous measurements of cathode and anode signals, where the interaction depth at a given energy is proportional to the ratio of cathode/anode signals. We demonstrate how a simple empirical formula describing the event distributions in the cathode/anode signal space can dramatically improve the energy resolution. We also estimate the energy and depth resolution of the detector as a function of the energy and the interaction depth. We also show a depth-sensing prototype system currently under development for EXIST in which cathode signals from 8, 16 or 32 crystals can be read-out by a small multi-channel ASIC board that is vertically edge-mounted on the cathode electrode along every second CZT crystal boundary. This allows CZT crystals to be tiled contiguously with minimum impact on throughput of incoming photons. The robust packaging is crucial in EXIST, which will employ very large area imaging CZT detector arrays.
Imaging at hard X-ray energies (~10-600 keV) over very large fields of view (~60° per telescope) is required to conduct a high sensitivity all-sky and all-time survey for black holes. The proposed Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) could achieve the high sensitivity required for the mission science objectives by scanning an array of wide-field coded aperture telescopes with aperture mask holes radially aligned to minimize auto-collimation by the thick (~7mm) masks required for high energy imaging. Simulation results from a preliminary design study are reported which quantify the improvement in off-axis imaging sensitivity vs. the conventional case with mask holes all perpendicular to the mask. Such masks can be readily constructed from a stacked laminate of thin (1mm) laser-etched W sheets. An even more dramatic increase in coded aperture imaging sensitivity, and dynamic range, for a realistic telescope and imaging detector with typical systematic errors can be achieved by continuously scanning the field of view of the telescope over the source region to be imaged. Simulation results are reported for detectors with systematic errors 1-10%, randomly distributed but unknown in each detector pixel. For the simplified case of a 1-D coded aperture telescope scanning along its pattern, the systematics are removed identically. Results are also presented for the 2-D case with both 1-D and partial 2-D scanning which demonstrate the feasibility of a coded aperture scanning telescope with systematic errors achieving nearly Poisson-limited sensitivity for signal/background ratios S/B ~ 10-4, in constrast to limits typically ~10-100X worse that have been actually achieved by pointed or dithered coded aperture telescopes flown (or proposed) previously.
We report detector characteristics and background measurements from two prototype imaging CdZnTe (CZT) detectors flown on a scientific balloon payload in May 2001. The detectors are both platinum-contact 10 mm × 10 mm × 5 mm CZT crystals, each with a 4 × 4 array of pixels tiling the anode. One is made from IMARAD horizontal Bridgman CZT, the other from eV Products high-pressure Bridgman CZT. Both detectors were mounted side-by-side in a flip-chip configuration and read out by a 32-channel IDE VA/TA ASIC preamp/shaper. We enclosed the detectors in the same 40o field-of-view collimator used in our previously-reported September 2000 flight. I-V curves for the detectors are diode-like, and we find that the platinum contacts adhere significantly better to the CZT surfaces than gold to previosu detectors. The detectors and instrumentation performed well in a 20-hour balloon flight on 23/24 May 2001. Although we discovered a significant instrumental background component in flight, it was possible to measure and subtract this component from the spectra. The resulting IMARAD detector background spectrum reaches ~5×10-3 counts cm-2s-1keV-1 at 100 keV and has a power-law index of ~2 at hgih energies. The eV Products detector has a similar spectrum, although there is more uncertainty in the enregy scale because of calibration complications.
The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) is a proposed very large area coded aperture telescope array, incorporting 8m2 of pixelated Cd-Zn-Te (CZT) detectors, to conduct a full-sky imaging and temporal hard x-ray survey each 95min orbit. With a sensitivity of ~0.05mCrab, it will extend the ROSAT soft x-ray and proposed ROSITA medium x-ray surveys into the hard x-ray band and enable identifiaiton and study of sources ~10-20X fainter than with the ~15-100keV survey planned for the upcoming Swift mission. At ~100-600keV, the ~1mCrab sensitivity is 300X that achieved in the only previous all-sky survey. EXIST will address a broad range of key science objectives: from obscured AGN and surveys for black holes on all scales, which constrain the acretion history of the universe, to the highest sensitivity and resolution studies of gamma-ray bursts it will conduct as the Next Generation Gamma-Ray Burst mission. We summarize the science objectives and mission drivers, and the results of a mission design study for implementation as a free flyer mission, with Delta IV launch. Key issues affecting the telescope and detector design are discussed, and a summary of some of the current design concepts being studied in support of EXIST is presented for the wide-field but high resolutoin coded aperture imaging and very large area array of imaging CZT detectors. Overall mission design is summarized, and technology development needs and a development program are outlined which would enable the launch of EXIST by the end of the decade, as recommended by the NAS/NRC Decadal Survey.
B-MINE is a concept for a balloon mission designed to probe the
deepest regions of a supernova explosion by detecting 44Ti emission at 68 keV with spatial and spectral resolutions that are sufficient to determine the extent and velocity distribution of the 44Ti emitting region. The payload introduces the concept of focusing optics and microcalorimeter spectroscopy to nuclear line emission astrophysics. B-MINE has a thin, plastic foil telescope multilayered to maximize the reflectivity in a 20 keV band centered at 68 keV and a microcalorimeter array optimized for the same energy band. This combination provides a reduced background, an energy resolution of 50 eV and a 3F sensitivity in 106 s of 3.3 10-7 ph cm-2 s-1 at 68 keV.
During the course of a long duration balloon flight, B-MINE could
carry out a detailed study of the 44Ti emission line centroid and
width in CAS A.
The High-Resolution Spectroscopic Imaging Mission is designed to be the first instrument to make true images of the hard X-ray/soft gamma-ray (2 - 600 keV) sky. By focusing energetic X-rays and low-energy gamma-rays, HSI will observe the cosmos with an unprecedented combination of sensitivity, spectral resolution, and angular resolving power. HSI is based on an array of multilayer grazing-incidence optics focusing onto high-resolution solid-state germanium pixel detectors with a focal length of 30-50 m. This paper describes the primary scientific objectives, technical approach to the instrumentation, and mission design.
We report on the design and construction of a tiled Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) detector array, suitable for use as an astronomical coded aperture imager. Four detector modules, each with 4 x 4 x 0.5 cm of CZT, readout by two 128 channel XA type ASICs, have been built and incorporated into a detector focal plane array. A passive shield/collimator surrounded by plastic scintillator encloses the detector on five sides and provides a 40 degree field of view. In this paper, we present our performance goals and some preliminary calibration results.
We present results from the flight of two prototype CZT detectors on a scientific balloon payload in September 2000. The first detector, referred to as CZT1, consisted of a 10 mm x 10 mm x 2 mm CZT crystal with a single gold planar electrode readout. This detector was shielded by a combination of a passive collimator in the front, giving a 40 degree field of view and surrounded by plastic scintillator, and a thick BGO crystal in the rear. The second detector, CZT2, comprised two 10 mm x 10 mm x 5 mm CZT crystals, one made of eV Products high pressure Bridgman material and the other of IMARAD horizontal Bridgman material, each fashioned with a 4 x 4 array of gold pixels on a 2.5 mm pitch. The pixellated detectors were flip-chip-mounted side by side and read out by a 32-channel ASIC. This detector was also shielded by a passive/plastic collimator in the front, but used only additional passive/plastic shielding in the rear. Both experiments were flown from Ft. Sumner, NM on September 19, 2000 on a 24 hour balloon flight. Both instruments performed well. CZT1 recorded a non-vetoed background level at 100 keV of approximately 1 x 10-3 cm-2s-1keV-1. Raising the BGO threshold from 50 keV to approximately 1 MeV produced only an 18% increase in this level. CZT2 recorded a background at 100 keV of approximately 4 times 10-3 cts cm-2s-1keV-1 in the eV Products detector and approximately 6 x 10-3 cts cm-2s-1keV-1 in the IMARAD detector, a difference possibly due to our internal background subtracting procedure. Both CZT1 and CZT2 spectra were in basic agreement with Monte Carlo simulations, though both recorded systematically higher count rates at high energy than predicted. No lines were observed, indicating that neutron capture reactions, at least those producing decay lines at a few 100 keV, are not significant components of the CZT background. Comparison of the CZT1 and CZT2 spectra indicates that passive/plastic shielding may provide adequately low background levels for many applications.
We report on the construction and laboratory testing of pixellated CZT detectors mounted in a flip-chip, tiled fashion and read out by an ASIC, as required for proposed hard X-ray astronomy missions. Two 10 mm X 10 mm X 5 mm detectors were fabricated, one out of standard eV Products high-pressure Bridgman CZT and one out of IMARAD horizontal Bridgman CZT. Each was fashioned with a 4 X 4 array of gold pixels on 2.5 mm pitch with a surrounding guard ring. The detectors were mounted side by side on a carrier card, such that the pixel pitch was preserved, and read out by a 32-channel VA-TA ASIC from IDE AS Corp. controlled by a PC/104 single-board computer. A passive shield/collimator surrounded by plastic scintillator encloses the detectors on five sides and provides an approximately 40 degree field of view. Thus this experiment tests key techniques required for future hard X-ray survey instruments. The experiment was taken to Ft. Sumner, NM in May 2000 in preparation for a scientific balloon flight aboard the joint Harvard-MSFC EXITE2/HERO payload. Although we did not receive a flight opportunity, and are currently scheduled to fly in September 2000, we present our calibration data in the flight configuration together with data analysis techniques and simulations of the expected flight background spectrum.
We present initial results from our evaluation of a gold- contacted pixellated detector using cadmium zinc telluride substrate produced by IMARAD Imaging Systems. The Horizontal Bridgman (HB) grown crystals from IMARAD have been shown to produce high resolution photopeaks, but they are also seen to have large leakage current. Our previous tests with IMARAD CZT showed that the use of indium anodes and gold cathode improved the resistivity compared to the standard indium-contacted detectors. We seek to test whether simple evaporated gold contacts alone could also reduce the leakage current and thus improve the spectral resolution, especially in the 10 - 100 keV energy range. We have fabricated several metal- semiconductor-metal (MSM) detectors with a 4 X 4 array of pixels on 10 X 10 mm substrates. Measurements of the detectors' leakage current, spectral response, and temperature sensitivity are presented and compared to IMARAD's ohmic contact detector and gold contact MSM detectors made of High Pressure Bridgman (HPB) material. Finally, we show preliminary results from a tiled flip-chip pixellated detector made using the IMARAD detectors.
In addition to high resolving power in the traditional x-ray band, the Constellation X-ray scientific goals require broad bandpass, with response extending to E >= 40 keV. To achieve this objective, Constellation-X will incorporate a hard x-ray telescope (HXT) based on depth graded multilayer- coated grazing incidence optics and position-sensitive solid state detectors. This paper describes the HXT performance requires, provides an overview of the HXT optics and detector technology development efforts, and present example designs.
We report on the design and laboratory testing of a prototype imaging CZT detector intended for balloon flight testing in April 2000. The detector test several key techniques needed for the construction of large-area CZT arrays, as required for proposed hard x-ray astronomy missions. Two 10 mm X 10 mm X 5 mm CZT detectors, each with a 4 X 4 array of 1.9 mm pixels on a 2.5 mm pitch, will be mounted in a 'flip chip' fashion on a printed circuit board carrier card; the detectors will be placed 0.3 mm apart in a tiled configuration such that the pixel pitch is preserved across both crystals. One detector is eV Products high-pressure Bridgman CZT, and the other is IMARAD horizontal Bridgman material. A passive shield/collimator surrounded by plastic scintillator surrounds the detectors on five sides and provides an approximately 45 degree field of view. The background spectrum recorded by this instrument will be compared to that measured by a single-element CZT detector fitted with the same passive/plastic collimator but including an active BGO shield to the rear. This detector has been previously flown by us completely shielded by a passive cover. We describe preliminary laboratory result for the various systems, discuss initial background simulations, and describe our plans for balloon flight tests.
We present initial result from our evaluation of a PIN contacted pixelated detector using cadmium zinc telluride substrate produced by IMARAD Imaging Systems. The Horizontal Bridgman (HB) grown crystals from IMARAD have been shown to produce high resolution photopeaks but they are also seen to have large dark current. We seek to test whether the use of PIN contacts could reduce the dark current and thus improve the spectral response especially in the 10-100 keV energy range. We have fabricated PIN and MIN detector with a 4 X 4 array of pixels on 10 X 10 mm substrates. Measurements of the detectors' dark current, spectral response, and internal electric field are presented and compared to IMARAD's ohmic contact detector and PIN detectors made of High Pressure Bridgman material.
We report results of an experiment conducted in May 1997 to measure CdZnTe background and background reduction schemes in space flight conditions similar to those of proposed hard x-ray astrophysics missions. A 1 cm2 CdZnTe detector was placed adjacent to a thick BGO anticoincidence shield and flown piggy backed onto the EXITE2 scientific balloon payload. The planar shield was designed to veto background counts produced by local gamma-ray production in passive material and neutron interactions in the detector. The CdZnTe and BGO were partially surrounded by a Pb-Sn-Cu shield to approximate the grammage of an x-ray collimator, although the field of view was still approximately 2 (pi) sr. At an altitude of 127000 feet we find a reduction in background by a factor of 6 at 100 keV. The non-vetoed background is 9 by 104 cts cm-2s-1 at 100 keV, about a factor of 2 higher than that of the collimated EXITE2 phoswich detector. We compare our recorded spectrum with that expected from simulations using GEANT and find agreement within a factor of 2 between 30 and 300 keV. We also compare our results with those of previous experiments using passive lead and active NaI shields, and discus possible active shielding schemes in future astronomy mission employing large arrays of CdZnTe detectors.
We report initial results from the design and evaluation of two pixellated PIN Cadmium Zinc Telluride detectors and an ASIC-based readout system. The prototype imaging PIN detectors consist of 4 X 4 1.5 mm square indium anode contacts with 0.2 mm spacing and a solid cathode plane on 10 X 10 mm CdZnTe substrates of thickness 2 mm and 5 mm. The detector readout system, based on low noise preamplifier ASICs, allows for parallel readout of all channels upon cathode trigger. This prototype is under development for use in future astrophysical hard X-ray imagers with 10 - 600 keV energy response. Measurements of the detector uniformity, spatial resolution, and spectral resolution will be discussed and compared with a similar pixellated MSM detector. Finally, a prototype design for a large imaging array is outlined.
We present a space mission concept for a low energy gamma-ray telescope, ATHENA, which is under investigation as the next major advance in gamma-ray spectroscopy following the current COMPTON Gamma Ray Observatory and the planned INTEGRAL missions. The instrument covers the nuclear line emission energy domain with dramatically improved sensitivity and spectral resolution. The baseline configuration combines a high resolution Compton telescope constructed from Ge planar strip detectors for the 0.3 - 10 MeV energy region with a coded-aperture system for the 10 - 200 keV domain. The Ge Compton telescope provides a broad field of view with exceptional spectral and imaging resolution. The requirements, capabilities and simulations of ATHENA are discussed.
We have begun to study a mission to carry out the first high sensitivity imaging survey of the entire sky at hard x-ray energies (5 - 600 keV). The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) would include 2 - 4 large area coded aperture telescopes with offset fields of view allowing total exposures of >= 500 ksec and flux sensitivities below 1 mCrab over the full sky in a year with time resolution from msec to months for each source as well as high spatial and spectral resolution for sources, transients and gamma-ray bursts. A pointed observatory phase, with the telescopes co-aligned, would follow and achieve still greater sensitivities and temporal coverage, allowing the detailed study of virtually all classes of accretion sources (cataclysmic variables to quasars) as well as diffuse galactic emission. The baseline concept originally proposed for the detector is a modularized array (4 X 4) of Cd-Zn-Te crystals (6.25 cm2 each, or 100 cm2/module). An array of 5 X 5 modules, or 2500 cm2 total detector area with 1.25 mm spatial resolution, would constitute the focal plane readout of each of the four telescopes. A brief descriptio of the proposed detector and telescopes and predicted backgrounds and sensitivity is given.
A hybrid detector is under development for use as a balloon-borne instrument in hard x-ray astronomy. The detector provides broad band coverage by coupling an optical avalanche chamber to a phoswich. The optical avalanche chamber yields superior instrument response at low energies while the scintillator takes over at the higher energies where the gas becomes transparent: at 25 keV, the addition of the gas chamber improves the energy resolution by a factor of 2.5 and the spatial resolution by a factor of 10 as compared to the stand-alone response of the phoswich. A half-scale prototype instrument is being constructed for test purposes and to help resolve a number of design questions involving the coupling of the two components.
We review design considerations and present preliminary details of the performance of a new imaging system for hard X-ray astronomy in the 20 - 600 keV energy range. The detector is a 40 cm X 40 cm NaI(Tl)/CsI(Na) phoswich module, read out by a 7 X 7 array of square PMTs. The detector comprises the main part of the next generation Energetic X-ray Imaging Telescope Experiment (EXITE2), which had its first flight on 13 June 1993 from Palestine, Texas. Imaging is accomplished via the coded-aperture mask technique. The mask consists of 16 mm square lead/tin/copper pixels arranged in a cyclically repeated 13 X 11 uniformly redundant array pattern at a focal length of 2.5 m, giving 22 arcmin resolution. The field of view, determined by the lead/brass collimator (16 mm pitch) is 4.65 degrees FWHM. We anticipate a 3 sigma sensitivity of 1 X 10-5 photons cm-2 s-1 keV-1 at 100 keV in a 104 sec balloon observation. The electronics incorporate two on-board computers, providing a future capability to record the full data stream and telemeter compressed data. The design of the current detector and electronics allows an upgrade to EXITE3, which adds a proportional counter front-end to achieve lower background and better spatial and spectral resolution below approximately 100 keV.
A hybrid detector, which combines an optical avalanche chamber with a phoswich, is currently under development. The optical avalanche chamber--a proportional counter designed to give large quantities of light photons during charge multiplication, mounts on the front of the scintillator and gives response at low energies, while the solid scintillator takes over at energies where the gas becomes transparent (> 90 keV). Both sections of the hybrid will be read out by a common set of photomultipliers under the phoswich. The addition of the gas section to the phoswich improves the energy resolution of the instrument by a factor of 2.5 at 25 keV and the spatial resolution by a factor of 10 at the same energy. The net result is an instrument with broad band coverage and high sensitivity which will be used for coded aperture imaging on long duration balloon flights.
The International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) is a proposed joint ESA/NASA/Russia gamma-ray astronomy mission which will provide both imaging and spectroscopy. It is currently at the final stages of an ESA phase-A study which it is hoped will lead to it being adopted during 1993 as the second 'medium-class' mission within ESA's Horizon 2000 plan. Launched in less than 10 years time it will be the successor to the current generation of gamma-ray spacecraft, NASA's Compton Observatory (GRO) and the Soviet- French Granat/Sigma mission. The baseline is to have two main instruments covering the photon energy range 50 keV to 10 MeV, one concentrating on high-resolution spectroscopy, the other emphasizing imaging. In addition there will be two monitors--an X-ray monitor which will extend the photon energy range continuously covered down to a few keV, and an Optical Transient Camera which will search for optical emission from gamma-ray bursts.
The Energetic X-ray Observatory on Space Station (EXOSS) is a mission concept for high-sensitivity coded-aperture sky surveys and studies of the spectral and temporal behavior of astrophysical sources from approximately 3 keV to 1 MeV. The scientific motivation for the mission and the instrument requirements, including the need for high angular resolution to resolve and identify numerous detectable sources, are summarized. Two baseline telescopes are described: one employing a 1.4-sq-m array of Xe gas imaging proportional counters to cover the 3 to 100 keV range with 1 arcmin resolution; the second using a 2.8-sq-m array of NaI/CsI imaging phoswich detectors to span the 20 keV to MeV range with 12 arcmin resolution.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.