Design improvements and x-ray performance of a time projection chamber polarimeter for persistent astronomical sources

Joanne E. Hill; J. Kevin Black; Thomas J. Emmett; Teruaki Enoto; Keith M. Jahoda; Philip Kaaret; David S. Nolan; Toru Tamagawa

doi:10.1117/12.2057259

25 July 2014 Design improvements and x-ray performance of a time projection chamber polarimeter for persistent astronomical sources

Joanne E. Hill, J. Kevin Black, Thomas J. Emmett, Teruaki Enoto, Keith M. Jahoda, Philip Kaaret, David S. Nolan, Toru Tamagawa

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9144, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 91441N (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2057259
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

The design of the Time-Projection Chamber (TPC) Polarimeter for the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS) was demonstrated to Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL-6)³ and the flight detectors fabricated, assembled and performance tested. A single flight detector was characterized at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Synchrotron Light Source with polarized X-rays at 10 energies from 2.3–8.0 keV at five detector positions. The detector met all of the GEMS performance requirements. Lifetime measurements have shown that the existing flight design has 23 years of lifetime⁴, opening up the possibility of relaxing material requirements, in particular the consideration of the use of epoxy, to reduce risk elsewhere. We report on design improvements to the GEMS detector to enable a narrower transfer gap that, when operated with a lower transfer field, reduces asymmetries in the detector response. In addition, the new design reduces cost and risk by simplifying the assembly and reducing production time. Finally, we report on the performance of the narrow-gap detector in response to polarized and unpolarized X-rays.

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Joanne E. Hill, J. Kevin Black, Thomas J. Emmett, Teruaki Enoto, Keith M. Jahoda, Philip Kaaret, David S. Nolan, and Toru Tamagawa "Design improvements and x-ray performance of a time projection chamber polarimeter for persistent astronomical sources", Proc. SPIE 9144, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 91441N (25 July 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2057259

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