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X-Ray Polarimetry Workshop SLAC, Stanford, California 9-11 February 2004 |
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Recent development of avalanche photodiodes for future X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy
Jun
Kataoka
Tokyo Tech
kataoka@hp.phys.titech.ac.jp
J.Kataoka, T.Ikagawa, Y.Yatsu, Y.Kuramoto, T.Saito, N.Kawai, T.Kamae, Y.Ishikawa
We report on the performance of the most recent avalanche photodiodes produced by Hamamatsu Photonics, as a low-energy X-rays and gamma-rays detector. APDs have many attractive features such as a high quantum efficiency in the visible and near infrared, very compact and less affected by magnetic field, and producing an internal gain of 100 or more. Until very recently, however, APDs were limited to very small surfaces and were mainly used as a digital device for light communication. We have developed large-area APDs for a soft X-ray (0.5-15 keV) and a scintillation gamma-ray detections (1-1000 keV). The best FWHM energy resolutions of 9.4 % and 7.4 % were obtained for 59.6 keV and 122 keV gamma-rays respectively, as measured with the CsI(Tl) crystal. The minimum detectable energy for the scintillation light was as low as 1 keV. We present several applications of using APDs for near-future space researches, especially for the X-ray/gamma-ray polarimeters. We will also report on the performance of 2-dimensional APD arrays which can be a promising device for a wide-band X-ray and gamma-ray imaging detector.
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For more information, contact
Jennifer Formichelli |
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