Design, construction, and test of the Gas Pixel Detectors for the IXPE mission

Baldini, L.; Barbanera, M.; Bellazzini, R.; Bonino, R.; Borotto, F.; Brez, A.; Caporale, C.; Cardelli, C.; Castellano, S.; Ceccanti, M.; Citraro, S.; Di Lalla, N.; Latronico, L.; Lucchesi, L.; Magazzù, C.; Magazzù, G.; Maldera, S.; Manfreda, A.; Marengo, M.; Marrocchesi, A.; Mereu, P.; Minuti, M.; Mosti, F.; Nasimi, H.; Nuti, A.; Oppedisano, C.; Orsini, L.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Pinchera, M.; Profeti, A.; Sgrò, C.; Spandre, G.; Tardiola, M.; Zanetti, D.; Amici, F.; Andersson, H.; Attinà, P.; Bachetti, M.; Baumgartner, W.; Brienza, D.; Carpentiero, R.; Castronuovo, M.; Cavalli, L.; Cavazzuti, E.; Centrone, M.; Costa, E.; D’Alba, E.; D’Amico, F.; Del Monte, E.; Di Cosimo, S.; Di Marco, A.; Di Persio, G.; Donnarumma, I.; Evangelista, Y.; Fabiani, S.; Ferrazzoli, R.; Kitaguchi, T.; La Monaca, F.; Lefevre, C.; Loffredo, P.; Lorenzi, P.; Mangraviti, E.; Matt, G.; Meilahti, T.; Morbidini, A.; Muleri, F.; Nakano, T.; Negri, B.; Nenonen, S.; O’Dell, S. L.; Perri, M.; Piazzolla, R.; Pieraccini, S.; Pilia, M.; Puccetti, S.; Ramsey, B. D.; Rankin, J.; Ratheesh, A.; Rubini, A.; Santoli, F.; Sarra, P.; Scalise, E.; Sciortino, A.; Soffitta, P.; Tamagawa, T.; Tennant, A. F.; Tobia, A.; Trois, A.; Uchiyama, K.; Vimercati, M.; Weisskopf, M. C.; Xie, F.; Zanetti, F.; Zhou, Y.

doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2021.102628

Design, construction, and test of the Gas Pixel Detectors for the IXPE mission

Journal Article · Wed Jul 21 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Astroparticle Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2021.102628· OSTI ID:1869917

Baldini, L.; Barbanera, M.; Bellazzini, R.; Bonino, R.; Borotto, F.; Brez, A.; Caporale, C.; Cardelli, C.; Castellano, S.; Ceccanti, M.; Citraro, S.; Di Lalla, N.; Latronico, L.; Lucchesi, L.; Magazzù, C.; Magazzù, G.; Maldera, S.; Manfreda, A.; Marengo, M.; Marrocchesi, A. more »

Due to be launched in late 2021, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a NASA Small Explorer mission designed to perform polarization measurements in the 2–8 keV band, complemented with imaging, spectroscopy and timing capabilities. At the heart of the focal plane is a set of three polarization-sensitive Gas Pixel Detectors (GPD), each based on a custom ASIC acting as a charge-collecting anode. In this paper we shall review the design, manufacturing, and test of the IXPE focal-plane detectors, with particular emphasis on the connection between the science drivers, the performance metrics and the operational aspects. We shall present a thorough characterization of the GPDs in terms of effective noise, trigger efficiency, dead time, uniformity of response, and spectral and polarimetric performance. In addition, we shall discuss in detail a number of instrumental effects that are relevant for high-level science analysis—particularly as far as the response to unpolarized radiation and the stability in time are concerned.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Italian Space Agency (ASI); Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Contributing Organization:: IXPE Mission

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-76SF00515

OSTI ID:: 1869917

Journal Information:: Astroparticle Physics, Journal Name: Astroparticle Physics Vol. 133; ISSN 0927-6505

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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References (14)

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