Abstract
Large-area lithium-drifted silicon (Si(Li)) detectors, operable 150°C above liquid nitrogen temperature, have been developed for the General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) balloon mission and will form the first such system to operate in space. These 10 cm-diameter, 2.5 mm-thick multi-strip detectors have been verified in the lab to provide < 4 keV FWHM energy resolution for X-rays as well as tracking capability for charged particles, while operating in conditions (~-40C and ~1 Pa) achievable on a long-duration balloon mission with a large detector payload. These characteristics enable the GAPS silicon tracker system to identify cosmic antinuclei via a novel technique based on exotic atom formation, de-excitation, and annihilation. Production and large-scale calibration of ~1000 detectors has begun for the first GAPS flight, scheduled for late 2021. The detectors developed for GAPS may also have other applications, for example in heavy nuclei identification.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | 2019 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, NSS/MIC 2019 |
Publisher | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781728141640 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2019 |
Event | 2019 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, NSS/MIC 2019 - Manchester, United Kingdom Duration: Oct 26 2019 → Nov 2 2019 |
Publication series
Name | 2019 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, NSS/MIC 2019 |
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Conference
Conference | 2019 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, NSS/MIC 2019 |
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Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
City | Manchester |
Period | 10/26/19 → 11/2/19 |
Funding
This work was supported in part by the NASA APRA program through Grant Nos. NNX17AB44G and NNX17AB46G. Manuscript received December 12, 2019. K. Perez receives support from the Heising-Simons Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. F. Rogers is supported through the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. 1122374. M. Kozai is supported by the JSPS KAKENHI under Grant No. JP17K14313. H. Fuke is supported by the JSPS KAKENHI under Grant Nos. JP2670715 and JP17H01136. M. Manghisoni, V. Re, E. Riceputi, and G. Zampa are supported by the Italian Space Agency through the ASI INFN agreement n. 2018-28-HH.0: ”Partecipazione italiana al GAPS - General AntiParticle Spectrometer”.