We are developing monolithic active pixel sensors, x-ray SOIPIXs based on a Silicon-On-Insulator CMOS technology. Its event trigger output function offers a high time resolution better than ~10 usec. (1) In 2022-23, we and evaluated large sensors, XRPIX-X, with a pixel array size of 14mm x 22mm. We report its design and the results of the performance evaluation. (2) We are developing "Digital X-ray SOIPIXs" for satellite use, featuring on-chip ADCs, DACs, and BGRs for noise robustness. An on-chip clock pattern generator is also included to simplify the readout digital circuits. (3) XRPIXs are increasingly being utilized in various scientific applications beyond x-ray astronomy, and a brief introduction will be provided.
We are developing x-ray Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) pixel sensors, called "XRPIX" for the next generation x-ray astronomy satellites. The XRPIX has the unique function of event trigger and hit address outputs allowing us to read out signals only from the x-ray detected pixels. In order to use the XRPIX for the x-ray observatories, the sufficient time resolution is required to discriminate non x-ray events using the anti-coincidence method. For this method, a hit trigger of the XRPIX with a short delay and jitter time (~10μs) is required since the typical hitting rate of the high-energy background events on active shields is ~10kHz. Therefore, we have evaluated the trigger performance using the laser-generated pseudo-x-ray instead of x-ray sources. This allows us to easily control the timing, the position, and the energy of the hit events on the XRPIX. We estimated trigger's delay and jitter time to be ≲1μs. Here, we will report on the results of the trigger evaluation.
MeV gamma-ray observations provide unique information about nucleosynthesis, diffusion in our galaxy, low-energy cosmic rays, particle acceleration, and other phenomena. However, the detection sensitivity in this band is significantly lower than that in other bands due to a large background contamination. To address this issue, we are developing an electron-tracking Compton camera (ETCC) with powerful background rejection tools based on Compton recoil electron tracks. This will enable future observations to be conducted with greater sensitivity. We have successfully demonstrated the detection technology and performance of the ETCC with two balloon experiments. We are preparing for the next balloon flight, SMILE-3, to observe galactic diffusion gamma rays and some bright celestial objects.
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