Balloon flight test of a CeBr3 detector with silicon photomultiplier readout

David Murphy; Joseph Mangan; Alexei Ulyanov; Sarah Walsh; Rachel Dunwoody; Lorraine Hanlon; Brian Shortt; Sheila McBreen

doi:10.1007/s10686-021-09767-z

Balloon flight test of a CeBr₃ detector with silicon photomultiplier readout

Exp Astron (Dordr). 2021;52(1-2):1-34. doi: 10.1007/s10686-021-09767-z. Epub 2021 Jun 25.

Authors

David Murphy¹, Joseph Mangan¹, Alexei Ulyanov¹, Sarah Walsh¹, Rachel Dunwoody¹, Lorraine Hanlon¹, Brian Shortt², Sheila McBreen¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Physics and Centre for Space Research, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland.
² European Space Agency, ESTEC, 2200 AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Recent advances in silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) technology and new scintillator materials allow for the creation of compact high-performance gamma-ray detectors which can be deployed on small low-cost satellites. A small number of such satellites can provide full sky coverage and complement, or in some cases replace the existing gamma-ray missions in detection of transient gamma-ray events. The aim of this study is to test gamma-ray detection using a novel commercially available CeBr₃ scintillator combined with SiPM readout in a near-space environment and inform further technology development for a future space mission. A prototype gamma-ray detector was built using a CeBr₃ scintillator and an array of 16 J-Series SiPMs by ON Semiconductor. SiPM readout was performed using SIPHRA, a radiation-tolerant low-power integrated circuit developed by IDEAS. The detector was flown as a piggyback payload on the Advanced Scintillator Compton Telescope balloon flight from Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility. The payload included the detector, a Raspberry Pi on-board computer, a custom power supply board, temperature and pressure sensors, a Global Navigation Satellite System receiver and a satellite modem. The balloon delivered the detector to 37 km altitude where its detection capabilities and readout were tested in the radiation-intense near-space environment. The detector demonstrated continuous operation during the 8-hour flight and after the landing. It performed spectral measurements in an energy range of 100 keV to 8 MeV and observed the 511 keV gamma-ray line arising from positron annihilation in the atmosphere with full width half maximum of 6.8%. During ascent and descent, the detector count rate peaked at an altitude of 16 km corresponding to the point of maximum radiation intensity in the atmosphere. Despite several engineering issues discovered after the flight test, the results of this study confirm the feasibility of using CeBr₃ scintillator, SiPMs, and SIPHRA in future space missions.

Keywords: Balloon; Gamma-ray detector.