Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Detector efficiency”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1975

Preliminary design and performance of an advanced gamma ray spectrometer for future orbiter missions

A knowledge of the composition of planets, satellites, and asteroids is of primary importance in understanding the formation and evolution of the solar system. Gamma-ray spectroscopy is capable of measuring the composition of meter-depth surface material from orbit around any body possessing little or no atmosphere. Measurement sensitivity is determined by detector efficiency and resolution, counting time, and the background flux while the effective spatial resolution depends upon the field-of-view and counting time together with the regional contrast in composition. The advantages of using germanium as a detector of gamma rays in space are illustrated experimentally and a compact instrument cooled by passive thermal radiation is described. Calculations of the expected sensitivity of this instrument at the Moon and Mars show that at least a dozen elements will be detected, twice the number which have been isolated in the Apollo gamma-ray data.

Metzger, A. E.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Preliminary design and performance of an advanced gamma-ray spectrometer for future orbiter missions

A knowledge of the composition of planets, satellites, and asteroids is of primary importance in understanding the formation and evolution of the solar system. Gamma-ray spectroscopy is capable of measuring the composition of meter-depth surface material from orbit around any body possessing little or no atmosphere. Measurement sensitivity is determined by detector efficiency and resolution, counting time and the background flux, while the effective spatial resolution depends upon the field-of-view and counting time together with the regional contrast in composition. The advantages of using germanium as a detector of gamma rays in space are illustrated experimentally and a compact instrument cooled by passive thermal radiation is described. Calculations of the expected sensitivity of this instrument at the moon and Mars show that at least a dozen elements should be measurable, twice the number which have been isolated in the Apollo gamma-ray data

Metzger, A. E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Sounding rocket measurement of the absolute solar EUV flux utilizing a silicon photodiode

A newly developed stable and high quantum efficiency silicon photodiode was used to obtain an accurate measurement of the integrated absolute magnitude of the solar extreme UV photon flux in the spectral region between 50 and 800 A. The adjusted daily 10.7-cm solar radio flux and sunspot number were 168.4 and 121, respectively. The unattenuated absolute value of the solar EUV flux at 1 AU in the specified wavelength region was 6.81 x 10 to the 10th photons/sq cm per s. Based on a nominal probable error of 7 percent for National Institute of Standards and Technology detector efficiency measurements in the 50- to 500-A region (5 percent on longer wavelength measurements between 500 and 1216 A), and based on experimental errors associated with the present rocket instrumentation and analysis, a conservative total error estimate of about 14 percent is assigned to the absolute integral solar flux obtained.

Ogawa, H. S.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Instrumentation for solar spectrophotometry at extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray wavelengths

The solar extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray (XUV) spectrum at wavelengths between 20 and 300 A contains a wealth of emission lines from ions formed at temperatures from 10 to the 5th K to greater than 2 x 10 to the 7th K. The requirements for high resolution spectrophotometric instrumentation are discussed in the light of data obtained with extreme ultraviolet and X-ray telescopes flown on Skylab. The design of a grazing-incidence spectroheliometer for active region and flare studies over the wavelength range from 40 to 630 A is presented and recently developed high-efficiency detectors and detector-arrays for use at XUV wavelengths are described.

Timothy, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Determination of muscle mass changes in legs from K-40 measurements

The K-40 content of the upper legs was periodically measured in several subjects whose injured legs had been in a cast for 6 weeks or more. As the subjects began using the leg again, the K-40 content increased as the muscle tissue was replaced. A 25% increase in K-40 content in 6 months is typical for a normal leg use and recovery. This is equivalent to an original muscle mass loss of 20%. By measuring specific body regions, such as arms or legs, with a high-efficiency detector system, muscle mass changes which exceed a few percent can be measured. These methods could be used in space flight and bedrest studies, and in studying nutritional deficiencies due to disease or diet.

Palmer, H. E.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Electron-photon coincidence technique for the absolute calibration of VUV detectors

A method is described whereby VUV photon detectors can be accurately calibrated. This method is illustrated by taking the 58.4-nm transition of He as an example. The technique consists of crossing a monoenergetic electron beam with a beam of He atoms. When inelastically scattered electrons which have excited the 2 1P state are detected in coincidence with the 58.4-nm photons emitted in the decay of the excited state, the interaction volume formed by the crossed beams constitutes a standard source of photons. By comparing the number of detected coincidences with the predicted number the calibration can be made. A total detector efficiency of 0.024 + or - 0.003 is obtained for a Galileo 4830 channeltron.

Mcadams, R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Atmospheric neutrinos observed in underground detectors

Atmospheric neutrinos are produced when the primary cosmic ray beam hits the atmosphere and initiates atmospheric cascades. Secondary mesons decay and give rise to neutrinos. The neutrino production was calculated and compared with the neutrino fluxes detected in underground detectors. Contained neutrino events are characterized by observation of an interaction within the fiducial volume of the detector when the incoming particle is not observed. Both the neutrino flux and the containment requirement restrict the energy of the neutrinos observed in contained interactions to less than several GeV. Neutrinos interact with the rock surrounding the detector but only muon neutrino interactions can be observed, as the electron energy is dissipated too fast in the rock. The direction of the neutrino is preserved in the interaction and at energies above 1 TeV the angular resolution is restricted by the scattering of the muon in the rock. The muon rate reflects the neutrino spectrum above some threshold energy, determined by the detector efficiency for muons.

Gaisser, T. K.↗
NASA NTRS1986

The soft X-ray/EUV calibration facility at the University of Colorado

The components of the calibration facility at the University of Colorado are described. The system is capable of analyzing the performance of optical components in the wavelength range from 2.7 to 2500 A. The system uses two light sources: a water-cooled hollow cathode gas discharge source and a soft X-ray source. The 2.2-m grazing incidence monochrometer, slits, large chamber, and computer-controlled manipulator are examined. The NBS aluminum oxide photodiode, a flowing gas proportional counter, and an imaging microchannel plate device are employed to detect the light. The optics, detectors, and data acquisition system are computer controlled. The facility is applicable for evaluating the performance of diffraction gratings, multilayer mirrors, reflective coatings, spectrographs, surface roughness scattering, and absolute detector efficiencies. Examples demonstrating the capabilities of the facility and a diagram of the facility are presented.

Windt, David L.↗
NASA NTRS1987

A solid state laser development program for remote atmospheric sensors

The current status of NASA Langley efforts to develop solid-state lasers for use in the Lidar Atmospheric Sounder and Altimeter (LASA) of the Space Station Earth Observing System is surveyed. The types of observations to be performed with LASA are listed, and the parameters of presently available lasers are compared with the LASA baseline goals: 2 kW output power; 500 kg weight; tunability to 727, 760, and 943 nm to within 500 fm; high spectral purity; efficiency greater than 3 percent; energy about 1 J/pulse, pulse length less than 100 nsec, and lifetime greater than 108 shots. The use of sensitized flashlamp-pumped laser materials or diode-laser pumping to improve performance is discussed, and particular attention is given to materials research on Ti:sapphire lasers, studies of higher-efficiency detectors, and the LASE and LITE airborne lidar and DIAL experiments.

Newcomb, A. L.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Radiance calibration of spherical integrators

Techniques for improving the knowledge of the radiance of large area spherical and hemispherical integrating energy sources have been investigated. Such sources are used to calibrate numerous aircraft and spacecraft remote sensing instruments. Comparisons are made between using a standard source based calibration method and a quantum efficient detector (QED) based calibration method. The uncertainty involved in transferring the calibrated values of the point source standard lamp to the extended source is estimated to be 5 to 10 percent. The use of the QED allows an improvement in the uncertainty to 1 to 2 percent for the measurement of absolute radiance from a spherical integrator source.

Mclean, James T.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Collection, analysis, and archival of LDEF activation data

Samples intentionally placed aboard the LDEF and samples obtained from the LDEF structure were studied at NASA Marshall and seven national labs to determine the radioactivity produced in orbit. The gamma ray spectra from these studies have provided information concerning the type and quantity of radioactive nuclei produced by various activating particles. The gamma ray spectra, the resulting activation, and the experimental arrangements are being collected at Marshall and Eastern Kentucky Univ. for review, further analysis, and future archival. An overview of this process and the type of information that will be available for future reference is given. This information includes the samples studied, the location of the samples on LDEF, the amount and type of covering material, the types of detector systems, the format of the gamma ray spectra, and the corrections for geometry, self-absorption, detector efficiency, and background needed to obtain accurate specific activations (activation per kilogram) of material. Plans are given as to the archival of the data for such future reference and how other scientific investigators or spacecraft designers can access the data.

Laird, C. E.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The strong Bell inequalities: A proposed experimental test

All previous experimental tests of Bell inequalities have required additional assumptions. The strong Bell inequalities (i.e. those requiring no additional assumptions) have never been tested. An experiment has been designed that can, for the first time, provide a definitive test of the strong Bell inequalities. Not only will the detector efficiency loophole be closed; but the locality condition will also be rigorously enforced. The experiment involves producing two Hg-199 atoms by a resonant Raman dissociation of a mercury dimer ((199)Hg2) that is in an electronic and nuclear spin singlet state. Bell inequalities can be tested by measuring angular momentum correlations between the spin one-half nuclei of the two Hg-199 atoms. The method used to make these latter measurements will be described.

Fry, Edward S.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Analysis prcedures for ROSAT XRT/PSPC observations of extended objects and the diffuse background

Proper reduction of ROSAT observations of extended sources or the diffuse background requires techniques that are quite different from the standard point-source analysis. We describe in detail an appropriate set of procedures for this purpose for the X-ray Telescope (XRT), Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC). We define a standard set of pulse-height bands recommended for analyzing extended structure and describe the use of detector efficiency maps for proper flat-fielding of images. Sources of noncosmic background contamination and their modeling and subtraction are discussed and demonstrated. IDL routines for implementing these data reduction procedures are being made available to the community through the ROSAT IDL library maintained at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

Snowden, S. L.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Spectral and correlated timing behaviour of GX 5-1

We have analyzed the X-ray spectral and fast timing behavior of the Z-source GX 5-1 using X-ray color-color diagrams (CDs), hardness-intensity diagrams (HIDs) and power spectra. We used all EXOSAT ME data on GX 5-1, a total of seven observations during 1983-1985. We detect, for the first time in GX 5-1, secular motion of the well-known 'Z' pattern through the CDs and HIDs. This behavior resembles Cyg X-2, but in GX 5-1 has a smaller amplitude. We find that the power spectra do not change when the 'Z' moves, and are only dependent on the position inside the 'Z'. We also report, for the first time in GX 5-1, indications of flaring-branch (FB) like behavior, both during one of our EXOSAT observations, and during observations done with Ginga. As the secular changes of the position of the 'Z' pattern in the CD and HID are relatively small we investigated in detail the systematic changes in the EXOSAT ME detectors using the only bright and steady X-ray 'standard star', the Crab Nebula. Finally, we determined an intrinsic CD of GX 5-1 (i.e. a soft photon flux-ratio versus hard photon flux-ratio diagram) in a model independent way, by applying a first order correction for the detector efficiency. It is shown, using data of the Crab Nebula, that this method works reasonably well for the determination of intrinsic colors.

Kuulkers, E.↗
NASA NTRS2001

The Effect of Twin Boundaries on the Spectroscopic Performance of CdZnTe Detectors

Most single grains in cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) grown by the high-pressure Bridgman (HPB) technique contain multiple twin boundaries. As a consequence, twin boundaries are one of the most common macroscopic material defects found in large area (400 to 700 sq mm) CdZnTe specimens obtained from HPB ingots. Due to the prevalence of twin boundaries, understanding their effect on detector performance is key to the material selection process. Twin boundaries in several 2 mm thick large area specimens were first, documented using infrared transmission imaging. These specimens were then fabricated into either 2 mm pixel or planar detectors in order to examine the effect of the twin boundaries on detector performance. Preliminary results show that twin boundaries, which are decorated with tellurium inclusions, produce a reduction in detector efficiency and a degradation in resolution. The extent of the degradation appears to be a function of the density of tellurium inclusions.

Parker, Bradford H.↗
NASA NTRS1997

The Search for Optimal Visual Stimuli

In 1983, Watson, Barlow and Robson published a brief report in which they explored the relative visibility of targets that varied in size, shape, spatial frequency, speed, and duration (referred to subsequently here as WBR). A novel aspect of that paper was that visibility was quantified in terms of threshold contrast energy, rather than contrast. As they noted, this provides a more direct measure of the efficiency with which various patterns are detected, and may be more edifying as to the underlying detection machinery. For example, under certain simple assumptions, the waveform of the most efficiently detected signal is an estimate of the receptive field of the visual system's most efficient detector. Thus one goal of their experiment Basuto search for the stimulus that the 'eye sees best'. Parenthetically, the search for optimal stimuli may be seen as the most general and sophisticated variant of the traditional 'subthreshold summation' experiment, in which one measures the effect upon visibility of small probes combined with a base stimulus.

Watson, Andrew B.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) Instrument Response

The Burst Alert Telescope (BAT), a large coded aperture instrument with a wide field-of-view (FOV), provides the gamma-ray burst triggers and locations for the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer. In addition to providing this imaging information, BAT will perform a 15 keV - 150 keV all-sky hard x-ray survey based on the serendipitous pointings resulting from the study of gamma-ray bursts and will also monitor the sky for transient hard x-ray sources. For BAT to provide spectral and photometric information for the gamma-ray bursts, the transient sources and the all-sky survey, the BAT instrument response must be determined to an increasingly greater accuracy. In this talk, we describe the BAT instrument response as determined to an accuracy suitable for gamma-ray burst studies. We will also discuss the public data analysis tools developed to calculate the BAT response to sources at different energies and locations in the FOV. The level of accuracy required for the BAT instrument response used for the hard x-ray survey is significantly higher because this response must be used in the iterative clean algorithm for finding fainter sources. Because the bright sources add a lot of coding noise to the BAT sky image, fainter sources can be seen only after the counts due to the bright sources are removed. The better we know the BAT response, the lower the noise in the cleaned spectrum and thus the more sensitive the survey. Since the BAT detector plane consists of 32768 individual, 4 mm square CZT gamma-ray detectors, the most accurate BAT response would include 32768 individual detector response functions to separate mask modulation effects from differences in detector efficiencies! We describe OUT continuing work to improve the accuracy of the BAT instrument response and will present the current results of Monte Carlo simulations as well as BAT ground calibration data.

Parsons, A.↗