ISSN:
1089-7623
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
,
Electrical Engineering, Measurement and Control Technology
Notes:
A new type of high-pressure proportional counter, with both spatial resolution and spectroscopic capabilities is being jointly developed by the Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale (CNR), Frascati, Italy and the SERC Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington, UK. The characteristics of the detector can be optimized for the particular requirement of the experiment, either for x-ray astronomy observations from space, or for the high count rate applications associated with a synchrotron light source. In its baseline configuration, the detector is filled to 5 bar with a xenon/quench gas mixture and will be sensitive over the energy range 5 keV to 150 keV (2.5 to 0.08 A(ring)). The positional resolution will range from 500 μm at the lower energies to around 1 mm at the higher end of the energy range. The current prototype has a sensitive area of 200×200 mm. The final version is hoped to have an area closer to 425×425 mm. The very small photon absorption length in the higher pressure gas allows the parallax effect, a feature of 1 atmosphere detectors, to be greatly reduced. The timing resolution (150 ns) of the detector enables both a high-rate capability and the possibility of the escape gate technique to achieve higher spectral resolution at energies (approximately-greater-than) the Xe K edge. Preliminary results are presented showing the spectral and positional resolution for the prototype detector.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1142683
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