2013/02/23 by Alexei Ulyanov, L. Hanlon, Ulyanov, Alexei +7
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det) #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) #Nuclear Physics and Applications #Particle Detector Development and Performance #Radiation Detection and Scintillator Technologies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1302.5786
openalex publication_date 2013/02/23 · openalex created_date 2019/07/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Among the top priorities for high-energy astronomy in the coming decade are sensitive surveys in the hard X-ray/soft γ-ray (10-600 keV) and medium-energy γ-ray (0.2-80 MeV) bands. Historically, observations in the soft and medium energy γ-ray bands have been conducted using detectors based on inorganic scintillators read out by photo-multiplier tubes (PMTs). These observations were limited by the modest energy and time resolution of traditional scintillator materials (e.g. NaI and CsI), and by the demands on mission resources imposed by the bulky, fragile, high-voltage PMTs. Recent technological advances in the development of both new scintillator materials (e.g. LaBr3:Ce, L(Y)SO) and new scintillation light readout devices (e.g. Silicon Photo-Multipliers) promise to greatly improve the observational capabilities of future scintillator-based γ--ray telescopes, while retaining the relative simplicity, reliability, large collection volumes, and low-cost of scintillator instruments. We present initial results of a study on the use of silicon photomultipliers in the calorimeter module design of the proposed GRIPS astrophysics mission.