Performance of a monolithic LaBr3:Ce crystal coupled to an array of silicon photomultipliers

Ulyanov, A.; Morris, Oran; Hanlon, L.; McBreen, S.; Foley, S.; Roberts, O. J.; Tobin, Isaac; Murphy, David; Wade, C. A.; Nelms, Nick; Shortt, Brian; Slavíček, T.; Granja, Carlos; Solar, M.

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2015.11.148

Cited by 29 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…(FYS) programme. 17 The payload will demonstrate the instrument's capabilities for detection of GRBs in LEO, using an instrument heritage [18][19][20] which has been modified for CubeSat compatibility with a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) stack. Prototype hardware has been previously tested during a high altitude balloon flight from Palestine, Texas (Murphy et al 2020, submitted) and during a 101.4MeV proton irradiation test of the detector assembly.…”

Section: Icso 2020 International Conference On Space Opticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The environmental test campaign of GMOD: a novel gamma-ray detector

Mangan

Murphy

Dunwoody

et al. 2021

International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2020

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The Gamma-Ray Module (GMOD) is a novel gamma-ray detector developed for the study of high energy astrophysical transients called Gamma-Ray Bursts. GMOD has been designed in-house and will be flown on board EIRSAT-1, intended to be Ireland's first satellite, a 2U CubeSat developed as part of the European Space Agency's Fly Your Satellite! programme. The detector comprises a 25×25×40mm CeBr 3 scintillator, coupled to a tiled array of 16 OnSemiconductor Silicon Photomultipliers with front-end readout provided by the IDE3380 SIPHRA. The readout is received by the GMOD Motherboard which provides temporary storage and support functionality for the instrument operation, including the transfer of Time-Tagged Event data to the EIRSAT-1 On Board Computer. The Engineering Qualification Model was environmentally tested following an approach tailored from the ECSS standards in early February 2020 at the CubeSat Support Facility in Transinne, Belgium. This campaign was conducted to qualify the hardware for low Earth orbit, including multi-axis vibration testing and thermal-vacuum cycling under qualification test levels and durations. GMOD was mounted on a 20kN electrodynamic shaker in which it underwent predefined sine and random vibration test profiles, demonstrating its ability to withstand the launch environment. The instrument was then thermally cycled under vacuum over

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Section: Icso 2020 International Conference On Space Opticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The environmental test campaign of GMOD: a novel gamma-ray detector

Mangan

Murphy

Dunwoody

et al. 2021

International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2020

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“…It is an initiative of the ESA Academy which provides educational opportunities for university students [39][40][41][42][43][44]. The main goal of the proposal was to fly and space-qualify a novel gamma-ray detector that was already under development [45,46]. This detector had a technologically mature design using a cerium bromide (CeBr 3 ) scintillator and silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), and had demonstrated compatibility with a CubeSat form factor.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A compact instrument for gamma-ray burst detection on a CubeSat platform I

et al. 2021

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The Educational Irish Research Satellite 1 (EIRSAT-1) is a 2U CubeSat being developed under ESA’s Fly Your Satellite! programme. The project has many aspects, which are primarily educational, but also include space qualification of new detector technologies for gamma-ray astronomy and the detection of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The Gamma-ray Module (GMOD), the main mission payload, is a small gamma-ray spectrometer comprising a 25 mm × 25 mm × 40 mm cerium bromide scintillator coupled to an array of 16 silicon photomultipliers. The readout is provided by IDE3380 (SIPHRA), a low-power and radiation tolerant readout ASIC. GMOD will detect gamma-rays and measure their energies in a range from tens of keV to a few MeV. Monte Carlo simulations were performed using the Medium Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy Library to evaluate GMOD’s capability for the detection of GRBs in low Earth orbit. The simulations used a detailed mass model of the full spacecraft derived from a very high-fidelity 3D CAD model. The sky-average effective area of GMOD on board EIRSAT-1 was found to be 10 cm2 at 120 keV. The instrument is expected to detect between 11 and 14 GRBs, at a significance greater than 10σ (and up to 32 at 5σ), during a nominal one-year mission. The shape of the scintillator in GMOD results in omni-directional sensitivity which allows for a nearly all-sky field of view.

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“…Several small missions have been designed to space-qualify SiPMs together with new scintillator materials, including the Strontium Iodide Radiation Instrument (SIRI) launched in December 2018 [19] which used a europium-doped strontium iodide (SrI 2 :Eu) scintillator, and the Gamma-ray Module (GMOD) to be flown on board the 2U EIRSAT-1 CubeSat [20]. Based on previous developments using novel lanthanum bromide (LaBr 3 ) and cerium bromide (CeBr 3 ) scintillators [30,31], GMOD will comprise a 25mm×25mm×40mm CeBr 3 crystal and an array of 16 J-Series SiPMs by ON Semiconductor (formerly SensL). The readout will be performed using Silicon Photomultiplier Readout ASIC, a low-power radiation-tolerant application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) recently developed by Integrated Detector Electronics AS (IDEAS), Norway [18,32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balloon flight test of a CeBr3 detector with silicon photomultiplier readout

et al. 2021

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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.

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Performance of a monolithic LaBr3:Ce crystal coupled to an array of silicon photomultipliers

Cited by 29 publications

References 28 publications

The environmental test campaign of GMOD: a novel gamma-ray detector

The environmental test campaign of GMOD: a novel gamma-ray detector

A compact instrument for gamma-ray burst detection on a CubeSat platform I

Balloon flight test of a CeBr3 detector with silicon photomultiplier readout

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