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DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2023.168413
Keywords
CdZnTe; Balloon; Gamma-ray; Cosmic rays; Planetary science
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A 3D position-sensing CZT detector prototype was built and tested in a high-altitude balloon platform to evaluate its performance in a space-like mixed-radiation environment. The prototype successfully operated throughout a 9-hour flight, detecting atmospheric gamma rays and galactic cosmic rays, and raising the Technical Readiness Level for large-volume 3D CZT detector technology for space applications. The results demonstrate the potential for using CZT imaging spectrometers in future space missions.
In collaboration between the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory, a 3D position-sensing CdZnTe (CZT) detector prototype was built and integrated into a high-altitude balloon platform to evaluate its performance in a space-like mixed-radiation environment. The detector prototype, Orion Eagle, was designed to operate in near-vacuum environments without any temperature regulation. Orion Eagle was hand-launched from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) at Fort Sumner, NM on September 26, 2021, and successfully operated throughout a 9-hour flight, which reached 38.5 km in altitude. The flight met its objectives, successfully detecting atmospheric gamma rays and galactic cosmic rays, and raising the Technical Readiness Level from 4 to 6 for large-volume 3D CZT detector technology for space applications. Ionization tracks produced by charged particles create spatial signatures in the detector that are distinguishable from discrete gamma-ray interactions. Therefore, the 3D position-sensing capabilities using pixelated electrodes on a CZT detector can help enable discrimination of background charged particles from gamma-ray events without an anticoincidence shield. The potential for background rejection capability, ambient-temperature operation, gamma-ray coded-aperture and Compton imaging, and near High Purity Germanium (HPGe) energy resolution motivate the use of large-volume 3D CZT imaging spectrometers in future space missions.
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