Abstract
Recent advances in silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) technology and new scintillator materials allow for the creation of compact high-performance gamma-ray detectors which can be deployed on small low-cost satellites. A small number of such satellites can provide full sky coverage and complement, or in some cases replace the existing gamma-ray missions in detection of transient gamma-ray events. The aim of this study is to test gamma-ray detection using a novel commercially available CeBr3 scintillator combined with SiPM readout in a near-space environment and inform further technology development for a future space mission. A prototype gamma-ray detector was built using a CeBr3 scintillator and an array of 16 J-Series SiPMs by ON Semiconductor. SiPM readout was performed using SIPHRA, a radiation-tolerant low-power integrated circuit developed by IDEAS. The detector was flown as a piggyback payload on the Advanced Scintillator Compton Telescope balloon flight from Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility. The payload included the detector, a Raspberry Pi on-board computer, a custom power supply board, temperature and pressure sensors, a Global Navigation Satellite System receiver and a satellite modem. The balloon delivered the detector to 37 km altitude where its detection capabilities and readout were tested in the radiation-intense near-space environment. The detector demonstrated continuous operation during the 8-hour flight and after the landing. It performed spectral measurements in an energy range of 100 keV to 8 MeV and observed the 511 keV gamma-ray line arising from positron annihilation in the atmosphere with full width half maximum of 6.8%. During ascent and descent, the detector count rate peaked at an altitude of 16 km corresponding to the point of maximum radiation intensity in the atmosphere. Despite several engineering issues discovered after the flight test, the results of this study confirm the feasibility of using CeBr3 scintillator, SiPMs, and SIPHRA in future space missions.
Highlights
Gamma-ray space missions including the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory [12], Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope [7, 17], and INTEGRAL [37] observed and discovered many new sources, including transient sources such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs; e.g. [34]), soft gamma-ray repeaters (e.g. [29]), and terrestrial gamma flashes (e.g. [8])
The detection of the gravitational wave signal from a binary neutron star merger, GW170817 [3] by the LIGO [14, 16] and Virgo [5] experiments in coincidence with a short gamma-ray burst, GRB 170817A [13] was another breakthrough discovery which led to a large follow-up campaign by space and ground based telescopes and highlighted the importance of gamma-ray missions to the future detection and localisation of GRBs in the context of multi-messenger astronomy
This paper presents the Gamma-ray Module Demonstrator (GMoDem), a selfcontained development model of GMOD which was flown on a high-altitude balloon flight in order to test in a near-space environment the technologies that will be used in the GMOD detector
Summary
Gamma-ray space missions including the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory [12], Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope [7, 17], and INTEGRAL [37] observed and discovered many new sources, including transient sources such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs; e.g. [34]), soft gamma-ray repeaters (e.g. [29]), and terrestrial gamma flashes (e.g. [8]). While other mission proposals are under review, e.g. THESEUS [6] and AMEGO [9], no follow-on mission is firmly in the pipeline from any of the large space agencies opening up a gap in capabilities in the coming years This coincides with the timeline for major upgrades of the gravitational wave facilities [4] which will likely lead to the discovery of more gravitational wave sources including binary neutron star and black hole-neutron star mergers, generally believed to be the progenitors of short GRBs. The simultaneous discovery of gravitational wave and electromagnetic signatures requires dedicated and coordinated observations by large communities of both ground and space-based observatories
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