학술논문

Tracker-in-Calorimeter (TIC) Project: A Calorimetric New Solution for Space Experiments
Document Type
article
Source
Instruments, Vol 6, Iss 4, p 52 (2022)
Subject
cosmic rays
astroparticles
γ-ray astronomy
Physics
QC1-999
Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity
QC770-798
Language
English
ISSN
2410-390X
Abstract
A space-based detector dedicated to measurements of γ-rays and charged particles has to achieve a balance between different instrumental requirements. A good angular resolution is necessary for the γ-rays, whereas an excellent geometric factor is needed for the charged particles. The tracking reference technique of γ-ray physics is based on a pair-conversion telescope made of passive material (e.g., tungsten) coupled with sensitive layers (e.g., silicon microstrip). However, this kind of detector has a limited acceptance because of the large lever arm between the active layers, needed to improve the track reconstruction capability. Moreover, the passive material can induce fragmentation of nuclei, thus worsening charge reconstruction performances. The Tracker-In-Calorimeter (TIC) project aims to solve all these drawbacks. In the TIC proposal, the silicon sensors are moved inside a highly-segmented isotropic calorimeter with a couple of external scintillators dedicated to charge reconstruction. In principle, this configuration has a good geometrical factor, and the angle of the γ-rays can be precisely reconstructed from the lateral profile of the electromagnetic shower sampled, at different depths in the calorimeter, by silicon strips. The effectiveness of this approach has been studied with Monte Carlo simulations and validated with beam test data of a small prototype.