Related papers: A Sealed Gas Pixel Detector for X-ray Astronomy

We present commissioning data for the POLISH instrument obtained on the Hale 5-m telescope. The goal of this high precision polarimeter is to constrain orbital inclination of high mass X-ray binaries and to therefore obtain independent mass…

With its ability to look at bright galactic X-ray sources with sub-millisecond time resolution, the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) discovered that the X-ray emission from accreting compact stars shows quasi-periodic oscillations on the…

The MIT X-ray Polarimetry Beamline is a facility that we developed for testing components for possible use in X-ray polarimetry. Over the past few years, we have demonstrated that the X-ray source can generate nearly 100% polarized X-rays…

(ABRIDGED) This dissertation concerns the use of CCDs for for X-ray astronomy. Part I of this thesis focuses on the calibration of the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS), one of the two primary focal plane instruments on the Chandra…

An astrophysics application of a low noise Double-sided Silicon Strip Detector (DSSD) is described. A Semiconductor Multiple-Compton Telescope (SMCT) is being developed to explore the gamma-ray universe in the 0.1-20 MeV energy band.…

The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is an Antarctic balloon-borne mission to indirectly search for dark matter through sensitive observation of cosmic antiparticles. The first flight is planned for late 2021. GAPS is the first…

In this work, we present a capacitively coupled GaAs p +-i-n/substrate photodetector (CC-GaAs PIN/S PD), which also represents a preliminary step toward 3D detection (x, y, time) of high-energy X-ray pulses. Although the final 3D detector…

An interpolating two-dimensional X-ray imaging detector based on a single photon counter with gas amplification by GEM (gas electron multiplier) structures is presented. The detector system can be used for time-resolved structure research…

Diamond has been developed as a material for the detection of charged particles by ionization. Its radiation hardness makes it an attractive material for detectors operated in a harsh radiation environment e.g. close to a particle beam as…

Cadmium Zinc Telluride and Cadmium Telluride are the detector materials of choice for the detection of X-rays in the X-ray energy band E >= 5keV with excellent spatial and spectral resolution and without cryogenic cooling. Owing to recent…

The measurement of the linear polarization is one of the hot topics of High Energy Astrophysics. Gas detectors based on photoelectric effect have paved the way for the design of sensitive instruments and mission proposals based on them have…

A compact and modular X and gamma-ray imaging spectrometer (XGIS) has been designed as one of the instruments foreseen on-board the THESEUS mission proposed in response to the ESA M5 call. The experiment envisages the use of CsI…

Currently a revolution is happening in the development of gaseous detectors of photons and particles. Recently developed gaseous detectors with solid photocathodes are now replacing photosensitive wire chambers, which dominated for years in…

The development of multi-layer optics which allow to focus photons up to 100 keV and more promises an enormous jump in sensitivity in the hard X-ray energy band. This technology is already planned to be exploited by future missions…

The development of gaseous detectors has been exciting again since the appearance of a MicroStrip Gas Chamber(MSGC) in 1988, which is made using a micro-electronics technology. These days lots of variations of the advanced gaseous detectors…

Accreting X-ray pulsars (XRPs) are presumably ideal targets for polarization measurements, as their high magnetic field strength is expected to polarize the emission up to a polarization degree of ~80%. However, such expectations are being…

In the last decade, imaging polarimeters based on micropolarizer arrays have been developed for use in terrestrial remote sensing and metrology applications. Micropolarizer-based sensors are dramatically smaller and more mechanically robust…

We have developed a polarized hard X-ray photoemission (HAXPES) system to study the ground-state symmetry of strongly correlated materials. The linear polarization of the incoming X-ray beam is switched by the transmission-type phase…

The key to photoelectric X-ray polarimetry is the determination of the emission direction of photoelectrons. Because of the low mass of an electron, the ionisation trajectory is not straight and the useful information needed for polarimetry…

The High Luminosity upgrade of the CERN Large Hadron Collider will be able to reach a peak instantaneous luminosity of 5E34/cm2 s. The innermost detectors of the CMS and ATLAS experiments will have to cope with unprecedented requirements on…