Design, Construction and Performance of the Detector for UFFO Burst Alert & Trigger Telescope

Abstract

One of the key aspects of the upcoming Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory (UFFO) pathfinder for Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) identification is the UFFO Burst Alert & Trigger Telescope (UBAT). The scientific propose of UBAT is to detect and locate as fast as possible the GRBs in the sky. This is achieved by using a coded mask aperture camera scheme with a wide field of view (FOV) and selecting a X-ray detector of high quantum efficiency and large detection area. This X-ray detector of high quantum efficiency and large detection area is called the UBAT detector. The UBAT detector consists of 48 × 48 Yttrium Oxyorthosilicate (YSO) scintillator crystal arrays and Multi Anode Photomultiplier Tubes (MAPMTs), analog electronics equipped with ASIC chips, digital electronics equipped with Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chips, and a mechanical structure that supports all components of the UBAT detector. The total number of the pixels in the UBAT detector is 2304, and the total effective detection area is 191 cm2 . We will present the design and construction, and performance of the UBAT detector including the responses of the UBAT detector to X-ray sources.