Capability Demonstration of a 3D CdZnTe Detector on a High-Altitude Balloon Flight
In collaboration between the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory, a 3D position-sensing CdZnTe (CZT) detector prototype was built and integrated into a high-altitude balloon platform to evaluate its performance in a space-like mixed-radiation environment. The detector prototype, Orion Eagle, was designed to operate in near-vacuum environments without any temperature regulation. Orion Eagle was hand-launched from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) at Fort Sumner, NM on September 26, 2021, and successfully operated throughout a 9-hour flight, which reached 38.5 km in altitude. The flight met its objectives, successfully detecting atmospheric gamma rays and galactic cosmic rays, and raising the Technical Readiness Level from 4 to 6 for large-volume 3D CZT detector technology for space applications. Ionization tracks produced by charged particles create spatial signatures in the detector that are distinguishable from discrete gamma-ray interactions. Therefore, the 3D position-sensing capabilities using pixelated electrodes on a CZT detector can help enable discrimination of background charged particles from gamma-ray events without an anticoincidence shield. The potential for background rejection capability, ambient-temperature operation, gamma-ray coded-aperture and Compton imaging, and near High Purity Germanium (HPGe) energy resolution motivate the use of large-volume 3D CZT imaging spectrometers in future space missions.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development
- Contributing Organization:
- USDOD Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, VA (United States)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 89233218CNA000001; HDTRA1-18-C-0073
- OSTI ID:
- 1985864
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-23-20591; TRN: US2402707
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 1054; ISSN 0168-9002
- Publisher:
- ElsevierCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Design and Performance Testing of a Linear Array of Position-Sensitive Virtual Frisch-Grid CdZnTe Detectors for Uranium Enrichment Measurements
Design and Performance Testing of a Linear Array of Position-Sensitive Virtual Frisch-Grid CdZnTe Detectors for Uranium Enrichment Measurements