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Broad-band imaging with an imaging gas scintillation proportional counter

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:6287375

A large imaging gas scintillation proportional counter (LIGSPC) was built and calibrated at the Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory (CAL). This instrument combines the good energy resolution of a gas scintillation proportional counter (GSPC) with the good spatial resolution of a multiwire proportional counter (MWPC). Experimental results obtained with this detector are presented and interpreted terms of the physical processes underlying its operation. A coded aperture mask whose pattern is based on a pseudo-random sequence was tested with the LIGSPC. The effects that several physical design limitations have on the image deconvolution are discussed, and analytical, simulated, and experimental results are compared. Placed at the focal plane of a grazing incidence mirror and a coded aperture mask, the LIGSPC forms the basis of a broad-band x-ray imaging spectrophotometer (BBXRIS) for the study of cosmic x-ray sources. Principles involved in the design of an experiment based on the BBXRIS concept are discussed, and two specific examples, preparations for which are now underway, are examined.

Research Organization:
Columbia Univ., New York (USA)
OSTI ID:
6287375
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English