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Equalizing the Pixel Response of the Imaging Photoelectric Polarimeter Onboard the IXPE Mission

Journal Article · · The Astronomical Journal
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [2];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [7];  [6];  [7];  [2];  [3];  [7] more »;  [10] « less
  1. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Roma (Italy); Sapienza University of Rome (Italy); University of Rome Tor Vergata (Italy); slac
  2. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Roma (Italy)
  3. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Selargius (Italy). Osservatorio Astrofisico di Cagliari
  4. Univ. of Pisa (Italy); National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), Pisa (Italy)
  5. Stanford Univ., CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  6. National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), Pisa (Italy)
  7. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Huntsville, AL (United States)
  8. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Rome (Italy). Osservatorio Astrofisico di Roma
  9. Italian Space Agency, Rome (Italy)
  10. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Roma (Italy); Guangxi Univ., Nanning (China)
+ Show Author Affiliations
The Gas Pixel Detector is a gas detector, sensitive to the polarization of X-rays, currently flying onboard the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)—the first observatory dedicated to X-ray polarimetry. It detects X-rays and their polarization by imaging the ionization tracks generated by photoelectrons absorbed in the sensitive volume, and then reconstructing the initial direction of the photoelectrons. The primary ionization charge is multiplied and ultimately collected on a finely pixellated ASIC specifically developed for X-ray polarimetry. The signal of individual pixels is processed independently and gain variations can be substantial, of the order of 20%. Such variations need to be equalized to correctly reconstruct the track shape, and therefore its polarization direction. The method to do such equalization is presented here and is based on the comparison between the mean charge of a pixel with respect to the other pixels for equivalent events. The method is shown to finely equalize the response of the detectors onboard IXPE, allowing a better track reconstruction and energy resolution, and can in principle be applied to any imaging detector based on tracks.
Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
1991114
Journal Information:
The Astronomical Journal, Journal Name: The Astronomical Journal Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 165; ISSN 0004-6256
Publisher:
IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (20)

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Design, construction, and test of the Gas Pixel Detectors for the IXPE mission journal December 2021
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journal October 2006
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journal September 2007
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journal September 2009
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journal January 2021
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An Algorithm to Calibrate and Correct the Response to Unpolarized Radiation of the X-Ray Polarimeter Onboard IXPE journal January 2022

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Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
astronomical detectors
calibration
polarimeters
polarimetry
x-ray astronomy
x-ray detectors
x-ray observatories
x-ray telescopes