On the background rate  in the LXeGRIT Instrument during the 2000 Balloon Flight

Alessandro Curioni; Elena Aprile; Karl-Ludwig Giboni; Masanori Kobayashi; Uwe G. Oberlack; Edward L. Chupp; Philip P. Dunphy; Tadayoshi Doke; Jun Kikuchi; Sandro Ventura

doi:10.1117/12.461569

11 March 2003 On the background rate in the LXeGRIT Instrument during the 2000 Balloon Flight

Alessandro Curioni, Elena Aprile, Karl-Ludwig Giboni, Masanori Kobayashi, Uwe G. Oberlack, Edward L. Chupp, Philip P. Dunphy, Tadayoshi Doke, Jun Kikuchi, Sandro Ventura

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4851, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Telescopes and Instruments for Astronomy; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.461569
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2002, Waikoloa, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

LXeGRIT is the first prototype of a novel Compton telescope for MeV γ-ray astrophysics based on a Liquid Xenon Time Projection Chamber (LXeTPC), sensitive in the energy band of 0.15-10 MeV. In this homogeneous, 3D position sensitive detector, γ-rays with at least two interactions in the sensitive volume of 2800 cm³, are imaged as in a standard Compton telescope. γ-rays with a single interaction cannot be imaged and constitute a background which can be easily identified and rejected. Charged particles and localized β-particles background is also easily suppressed based on the TPC localization capability with millimeter resolution. A measurement of the total γ-ray background rate in near space conditions and the background rejection power of the LXeTPC was a primary goal of the LXeGRIT balloon flight program. We present here a preliminary analysis addressing this question, based on balloon flight data acquired during the Oct 4-5, 2000 LXeGRIT balloon flight from Ft. Sumner, NM. In this long duration balloon experiment, the LXeGRIT TPC was not surrounded by any γ-ray or charged particle shield. Single site events and charged particles were mostly rejcted on-line at the first and second trigger level. The remaining count rate of single-site γ-ray events, at an average atmospheric depth of 3.2 g cm^-2, is consistent with that expected from atmospheric and diffuse γ-ray background, taking into account the instrument mass model and response.

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Alessandro Curioni, Elena Aprile, Karl-Ludwig Giboni, Masanori Kobayashi, Uwe G. Oberlack, Edward L. Chupp, Philip P. Dunphy, Tadayoshi Doke, Jun Kikuchi, and Sandro Ventura "On the background rate in the LXeGRIT Instrument during the 2000 Balloon Flight", Proc. SPIE 4851, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Telescopes and Instruments for Astronomy, (11 March 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.461569

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