Many-fold coincidence pileup in silicon detectors: Solar X-ray response of charged particle detector systems for space

Abstract

A technique for computing counting rates of silicon detectors in case of multiple absorption events has been developed. It enables quantitative analysis of the response of solid-state detectors flown in space to solar X-ray events of different intensities and temperatures. The technique is applied to computing the responses of generic types of satellite detectors to solar X-ray emission spectra in the 5 to 40 MK temperature range. Comparison with the data available for the Energetic Particle Experiment (EPE) flown on the IMP 8 satellite confirms that many-fold coincidence of photon absorption pulses can account for the response of solid-state detectors to solar X-rays. With an example of a two-threshold detector, it is shown that silicon detectors can be used to measure both the temperature and the emission measure of solar X-ray flares.