High-altitude balloon flight of CdZnTe detectors for high-energy x-ray astronomy

Kimberly R. Slavis; Paul F. Dowkontt; Fred Duttweiller; John W. Epstein; Paul L. Hink; George L. Huszar; Philippe C. Leblanc; James L. Matteson; Robert T. Skelton; Edwin A. Stephan

doi:10.1117/12.330274

10 November 1998 High-altitude balloon flight of CdZnTe detectors for high-energy x-ray astronomy

Kimberly R. Slavis, Paul F. Dowkontt, Fred Duttweiller, John W. Epstein, Paul L. Hink, George L. Huszar, Philippe C. Leblanc, James L. Matteson, Robert T. Skelton, Edwin A. Stephan

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 3445, EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy IX; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.330274
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1998, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

CdZnTe (CZT) is a room-temperature semiconductor well suited for high energy x-ray astronomy. Knowledge of its background properties is essential for optimizing CZT based instruments. To study its background, we flew two CZT detectors on dedicated high altitude balloon flights from Fort Sumner, NM, the first in October 1997 and the second in May 1998. The first detector is a 12 by 12 by 2 mm³ detector with orthogonal crossed strips and the second is a standard 12 by 12 by 2 mm ³ planar detector. The cross strip detector has 500 micron pitched electrodes plus anode 'steering electrodes' to improve the anode charge collection. The energy range for these flights was 20 to approximately 350 keV. We have found a preliminary background level in 20-40 keV of 8.6 by 10^-3 cts/cm²-s-keV using passive 2 mm PbSnCu shielding and 6 by 10^-4 cts/cm²-s-keV using active collimated schemes for the first position-sensitive CAT detector at balloon altitudes.

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Kimberly R. Slavis, Paul F. Dowkontt, Fred Duttweiller, John W. Epstein, Paul L. Hink, George L. Huszar, Philippe C. Leblanc, James L. Matteson, Robert T. Skelton, and Edwin A. Stephan "High-altitude balloon flight of CdZnTe detectors for high-energy x-ray astronomy", Proc. SPIE 3445, EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy IX, (10 November 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.330274

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