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At least 829 records · Page 46
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1984

The development of a segmented N-type germanium detector, and its application to astronomical gamma-ray spectroscopy

Extensive calculations and simulations have shown that the instrumental background in a coaxial germanium photon detector flown at balloon altitudes or in space, can be substantially reduced by segmenting the outer contact. The contact is divided into horizontal strips around the side of the detector, giving it many characteristics similar to that of a stack of planar detectors. By choosing different segment coincidence requirements in different energy ranges, one can obtain a factor of approx. 2 increase in sensitivity to spectral lines between 40 keV and 1 MeV, compared with an unsegmented detector. The reverse electrode configuration (using n-type germanium), with the p contact outside, is preferred for this application due to its thin dead layer and resistance to radiation damage in space. A small two segment n type detector is being developed to serve as a prototype for larger multisegment devices. Results of this development effort and of detector tests are presented. Previously announced in STAR as N84-13039

Gehrels, N.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Miniature triaxial metastable ionization detector for gas chromatographic trace analysis of extraterrestrial volatiles

The present investigation is concerned with a miniature metastable ionization detector featuring an unconventional electrode configuration, whose performance characteristics parallel those of traditional design. The ionization detector is to be incorporated in a flight gas chromatograph (GC) for use in the Space Shuttle. The design of the detector is discussed, taking into account studies which verified the sensitivity of the detector. The triaxial design of the detector is compared with a flat-plate style. The obtained results show that the principal goal of developing a miniature, highly sensitive ionization detector for flight applications was achieved. Improved fabrication techniques will utilize glass-to-metal seals and brazing procedures.

Woeller, F. H.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The development and test of ultra-large-format multi-anode microchannel array detector systems

The specific tasks that were accomplished with each of the key elements of the multi-anode microchannel array detector system are described. The modes of operation of position-sensitive electronic readout systems for use with high-gain microchannel plates are described and their performance characteristics compared and contrasted. Multi-anode microchannel array detector systems with formats as large as 256 x 1024 pixels are currently under evaluation. Preliminary performance data for sealed ultraviolet and visible-light detector tubes show that the detector systems have unique characteristics which make them complementary to photoconductive array detectors, such as CCDs, and superior to alternative pulse-counting detector systems employing high-gain MCPs.

Timothy, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Detector calibration of the Indian cosmic ray experiment (IONS) in Space-Shuttle Spacelab-13

In the Indian cosmic ray experiment (IONS) in Spacelab-3 the intention is to study nuclei up to iron in low energy cosmic rays, using CR-39 (DOP) detectors. CR-39 (DOP) was exposed to He4, C12, O16, Ne20, Si28, Ar40, Cr52 and Fe56 accelerated beams from various accelerator facilities available around the world. Different beam energies and exposure angles were used. From these exposures, the charge resolution and energy resolution for the detector in the region of interest were studied. The effect of pre-annealing and depth on the response of our detector was studied. For isotopic resolution, exposed the detector samples were exposed to Ne2O and Ne22 accelerated beams. Samples of CR-39 (DOP) exposed to different accelerated heavy ions were kept in the detector module to take into account the effect of ambient conditions on detector response during the flight.

Yadav, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1985

An intensified photodiode array detector for space applications

The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) is a general purpose moderate resolution spectrograph which is now being constructed for launch on the Space Shuttle. The instrument contains a Rowland spectrograph, which is located at the prime focus of a 0.9-m f/2 parabola. A description is given of the progress which has been made in the development of a flight detector for HUT. The detector developed is an intensified photodiode array. The image intensifier part of the detector contains two 25-mm 80:1, 12-micron pore microchannel plates (PCPs). A thin layer of CsI deposited on the front surface of the first microchannel plate has the objective to increase the quantum efficiency of the detector below 1850 A. The detector system utilizes a spectrometer processor (SP) which is based upon a bit-sliced microprocessor. The current status of the HUT detector system is discussed, and aspects of performance are evaluated. It is felt that the developed system will meet or exceed the design requirements.

Long, K. S.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Imaging at soft X-ray wavelengths with high-gain microchannel plate detector systems

Multianode microchannel array (MAMA) detector systems with formats of 256 x 1024 pixels and active areas of 6 x 26 mm are now under evaluation at visible, UV and soft X-ray wavelengths. Very-large-format versions of the MAMA detectors with formats of 2048 x 2048 pixels and active areas of 52 x 52 mm are under development for use in the NASA Goddard Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). Open-structure versions of these detectors with Cs I photocathodes can provide a high-resolution imaging capability at EUV and soft X-ray wavelengths and can deliver a maximum count rate from each array in excess of 10 to the 6th counts/s. In addition, these detector systems have the unique capability to determine the arrival time of a detected photon to an accuracy of 100 ns or better. The construction, mode of operation, and performance characteristics of the MAMA detectors are described, and the program for the development of the very-large-format detectors is outlined.

Timothy, J. Gethyn↗
NASA NTRS1989

Imaging characteristics of the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer microchannel plate detectors

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) satellite will conduct an all-sky survey over the wavelength range from 70 A to 760 A using four grazing-incidence telescopes and seven microchannel-plate (MCP) detectors. The imaging photon-counting MCP detectors have active areas of 19.6 cm2. Photon arrival position is determined using a wedge-and-strip anode and associated pulse-encoding electronics. The imaging characteristics of the EUVE flight detectors are presented including image distortion, flat-field response, and spatial differential nonlinearity. Also included is a detailed discussion of image distortions due to the detector mechanical assembly, the wedge-and-strip anode, and the electronics. Model predictions of these distortions are compared to preflight calibration images which show distortions less than 1.3 percent rms of the detector diameter of 50 mm before correction. The plans for correcting these residual detector image distortions to less than 0.1 percent rms are also presented.

Vallerga, J. V.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Design and status of the detector block for the ISO-SWS

The Short Wave Spectrometer (SWS) is one of the two spectrometers for the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). It consists of a pair of grating spectrometers and a Fabry-Perot interferometer. Together, the grating spectrometers cover the wavelength range 2.4 to 45 microns, at a resolution between 1000 and 2000. The Fabry-Perot interferometer, in series with one of the grating spectrometers, provides a resolution of about 20,000 at the wavelengths between 15 and 35 microns. The SWS is being built by the Space Research Organization of the Netherlands and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. The spectrometer has 52 discrete detectors, most of which are bulk detectors. In the design of the spectrometer, the main emphasis is on the sensitivity of the individual channels, rather than on the number of detectors. This was one of the main reasons to select non-destructive read-out circuits, with a separate heated-JFET pre-amplifier for each individual detector. The signals are amplified and filtered in parallel. The engineering tests on the SWS detector block have not yet been completed. The design of the detector block is described and the present problem areas are indicated.

Luinge, W.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Hybrid gas scintillation proportional counter/phoswich detector for hard X-ray astronomy

A concept is presented for a balloon-borne imaging hybrid proportional counter/phoswich detector of medium to hard X-rays. The phoswich would be optically coupled to the exit window of the proportional counter, and both detectors would use a common position-sensitive readout. It is anticipated that such a detector could combine the good energy and position resolution and excellent background rejection ability of the proportional counter for incident photon energies less than 100 keV with the extended response of the phoswich for higher energies. The phoswich could also be used to reject Compton scattering events in the proportional counter. This detector concept is studied using numerical simulations of a 400 sq cm square prototype detector. Results from this simulation indicate that current levels of proportional counter and phoswich performance are attainable at small cost in quantum efficiency, compared to a bare phoswich detector.

Grindlay, Jonathan E.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Effect of space exposure on pyroelectric infrared detectors

Twenty pyroelectric type infrared detectors were flown onboard the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). The detector chips were of three different pyroelectric materials: lithium-tantalate, strontium-barium-niobate, and triglycine-sulfide. The experiment was passive; no measurements were taken during the flight. Performance of the detectors was measured before and after flight. Postflight measurements revealed that detectors made of lithium-tantalate and strontium-barium-niobate suffered no measureable loss in performance. Detectors made of triglycine-sulfide suffered complete loss of performance, but so did the control samples of the same material. Repoling of the triglycine-sulfide failed to revive the detectors.

Robertson, James B.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Segmented Ge detector rejection of internal beta activity produced by neutron irradiation

Future Ge spectrometers flown in space to observe cosmic gamma-ray sources will incorporate segmented detectors to reduce the background from radioactivity produced by energetic particle reactions. To demonstrate the effectiveness of a segmented Ge detector in rejecting background events due to the beta decay of internal radioactivity, a laboratory experiment has been carried out in which radioactivity was produced in the detector by neutron irradiation. A Cf-252 source of neutrons was used to produce, by neutron capture on Ge-74 (36.5 percent of natural Ge) in the detector itself, Ge-75 (t sub 1/2 = 82.78 min), which decays by beta emission with a maximum electron kinetic energy of 1188 keV. By requiring that an ionizing event deposit energy in two or more of the five segments of the detector, each about 1-cm thick, the beta particles, which have a range of about 1-mm, are rejected, while most external gamma rays incident on the detector are counted. Analysis of this experiment indicates that over 85 percent of the beta events from the decay of Ge-75 are rejected, which is in good agreement with Monte Carlo calculations.

Varnell, L. S.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Thermal detectors for X-ray astronomy - Current performance and limitations

We have been developing thermal detectors for X-ray astronomy. These detectors have the advantages of both high energy resolution and high quantum efficiency. A practical detector operating at a temperature of 0.1 K could ideally have a resolution as good as 1 eV (FWHM). We have produced a detector with a measured resolution of 7 eV (FWHM) for 6 keV X-rays. The detailed behavior of the detector thermistor and thermal links impose limits on performance. Techniques for improving detector behavior will be discussed. We are currently constructing an instrument for launch on a sounding rocket to observe the soft X-ray emission from the interstellar medium.

Juda, M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

BATSE spectroscopy detector calibration

We describe the channel-to-energy calibration of the Spectroscopy Detectors of the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO). These detectors consist of NaI(TI) crystals viewed by photomultiplier tubes whose output in turn is measured by a pulse height analyzer. The calibration of these detectors has been complicated by frequent gain changes and by nonlinearities specific to the BATSE detectors. Nonlinearities in the light output from the NaI crystal and in the pulse height analyzer are shifted relative to each other by changes in the gain of the photomultiplier tube. We present the analytical model which is the basis of our calibration methodology, and outline how the empirical coefficients in this approach were determined. We also describe the complications peculiar to the Spectroscopy Detectors, and how our understanding of the detectors' operation led us to a solution to these problems.

Band, D.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Performance characteristics of the imaging MAMA detector systems for SOHO, STIS, and FUSE/Lyman

Imaging Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Multi-Anode Microchannel Array (MAMA) detector systems with formats of 360 x 1024 pixels and pixel dimensions of 25 x 25 sq microns are being fabricated and tested for flight in two instruments on the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). In addition, very-large-format (1024 x 1024)- and (2048 x 2048)-pixel Far Ultraviolet (FUV) and EUV MAMA detectors with pixel dimensions of 25 x 25 sq microns are being fabricated and tested for use in the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), a second-generation instrument scheduled for in-orbit installation in 1997. Finally, FUV MAMA detectors with formats of 224 x 960 pixels and pixel dimensions of 14 x 14 sq microns are being evaluated as prototypes of the detector for the prime FUV spectrograph of the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE/Lyman) mission. The configurations and performance characteristics of the different detector systems are described, and the plans for further development of the Advanced Technology MAMA detector system discussed.

Timothy, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1993

New room temperature high resolution solid-state detector (CdZnTe) for hard x rays and gamma rays

The new CdZnTe high 'Z' material represents a significant improvement in detectors for high energy photons. With the thicknesses available, photons up to 100 keV can be efficiently detected. This material has a wide band gap of 1.5 - 2.2 eV which allows it to operate at room temperature while providing high spectral resolution. Results of resolution evaluations are presented. This detector can be used for high resolution spectral measurements of photons in x-ray and gamma-ray astronomy, offering a significant reduction in the weight, power, and volume of the detector system compared to more conventional detector types such as scintillation counters. In addition, the detector will have the simplicity and reliability of solid-state construction. The CdZnTe detector, as a new development, has not yet been evaluated in space. The Get Away Special program can provide this opportunity.

Stewart, Amyelizabeth C.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Advanced far infrared blocked impurity band detectors based on germanium liquid phase epitaxy

This research has shown that epilayers with residual impurity concentrations of 5 x 10(sup 13) cm(exp -3) can be grown by producing the purest Pb available in the world. These epilayers have extremely low minority acceptor concentrations, which is ideal for fabrication of IR absorbing layers. The Pb LPE growth of Ge also has the advantageous property of gettering Cu from the epilayer and the substrate. Epilayers have been grown with intentional Sb doping for IR absorption on lightly doped substrates. This research has proven that properly working Ge BIB detectors can be fabricated from the liquid phase as long as pure enough solvents are available. The detectors have responded at reach minimum wavenumbers. Optimization of the Sb doping concentration should further decrease the photoionization energy of these detectors. Ge BIB detectors have been fabricated that respond to 60 cm(exp -1) with low responsivity. Through reduction of the minority residual impurities, detector performance has reached responsivities of 1 A/W. These detectors have exhibited quantum efficiency and NEP values that rival conventional photoconductors and are expected to provide a much more sensitive tool for new scientific discoveries in a number of fields, including solid state studies, astronomy, and cosmology.

Olsen, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Detector Assembly and the Ultralow-Temperature Refrigerator for XRS

The X-ray spectrometer (XRS) on the Japanese Astro-E Spacecraft is the first ultra low temperature space borne instrument. The system utilizes a 900g Ferric Ammonium Alum (FAA) Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator (ADR) with a helium-3 gas gap heat switch to cool the detector assembly to 0.060K. The system operates in a "single shot" configuration allowing the system to remain at its operating temperature for about 40 hours in the lab. The on-orbit performance is expected to be about 35 hours with a 97% duty cycle. The detector assembly for XRS consists of a 32 channel microcalorimeter array bias electronics, thermometry, and an anti-coincidence detector that are attached to the cold stage of the ADR. To thermally Isolate the detector system from the superfluid helium reservoir, the detector system is suspended by Kevlar cords and electrical connection in made by L30, 17-micron diameter, tensioned NbTi leads. The detectors are read out in a source-follower arrangement using FET amplifiers operating at 130K mounted in multiply-thermally-isolated assemblies that also use Kevlar and stainless steel wiring. The design and thermal performance of this system will be discussed and compared to the theoretical limits.

Porter, F. S.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Development of CDZNTE Detectors for Low-Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy

Under this grant the UC Berkeley PI, K. Hurley, joined a Goddard-led effort to develop large area, multi-pixel Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride (CdZnTe, or CZT) detectors for gamma-ray astronomy. His task was to advise the project of new developments in the area of cosmic gamma-ray bursts, in order to focus the detector development effort on the construction of an instrument which could be deployed on a spacecraft to localize and measure the energy spectra of bursts with good angular and energy resolution, respectively. UC Berkeley had no hardware role in this proposal. The result of this effort was the production, at Goddard, of five CZT prototype modules. A proposal was written for SWIFT, a MIDEX mission to study cosmic gamma-ray bursts. One experiment aboard SWIFT is the Burst Arcminute Telescope (BAT), which consists of a 5200 sq cm hard X-ray detector and a coded mask. The detector comprises 256 CZT modules, each containing 128 4 x 4 x 2 mm CZT detectors. Each detector is read out using an ASIC. The angular resolution achieved with this mask/array combination is 22 arcminutes, and a strong gamma-ray burst can be localized to an accuracy of 4 arcminutes in under 10 seconds. The energy resolution is typically 5 keV FWHM at 60 keV, and the energy range is 10 - 150 keV. The BAT views 2 steradians, and its sensitivity is such that the instrument can detect 350 gamma-ray burst/year, localizing 320 of them to better than 4 arcminute accuracy. The BAT concept therefore met the science goals for gamma-ray bursts. The UCB effort in the SWIFT proposal included the scientific objectives for gamma-ray bursts, and the assembly of a team of optical and radio observers who would use the BAT data to perform rapid multi-wavelength searches for the counterparts to bursts. This proposal was submitted to NASA and peer-reviewed. In January 1999 it was one of five such proposals selected for a Phase A study. This study was completed in June, and SWIFT was formally presented to NASA in September. It appeared that a final selection of two MIDEX missions for flight was imminent. However, the final selection was deferred at the last minute due to the uncertainty in NASA's OSS budget.

Gehrels, N.↗