학술논문
The design and performance of the XL-Calibur anticoincidence shield
Document Type
Author
Iyer, Nirmal; Kiss, Mózsi, 1982; Pearce, Mark, 1970; Stana, Theodor-Adrian; Awaki, H.; Bose, R. G.; Dasgupta, A.; De Geronimo, G.; Gau, E.; Hakamata, T.; Ishida, M.; Ishiwata, K.; Kamogawa, W.; Kislat, F.; Kitaguchi, T.; Krawczynski, H.; Lisalda, L.; Maeda, Y.; Matsumoto, H.; Miyamoto, A.; Miyazawa, T.; Mizuno, T.; Rauch, B. F.; Cavero, N. Rodriguez; Sakamoto, N.; Sato, J.; Spooner, S.; Takahashi, H.; Takeo, M.; Tamagawa, T.; Uchida, Y.; West, A. T.; Wimalasena, K.; Yoshimoto, M.
Source
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. 1048
Subject
Language
English
ISSN
0168-9002
1872-9576
1872-9576
Abstract
The XL-Calibur balloon-borne hard X-ray polarimetry mission comprises a Compton-scattering polarimeter placed at the focal point of an X-ray mirror. The polarimeter is housed within a BGO anticoincidence shield, which is needed to mitigate the considerable background radiation present at the observation altitude of ∼40 km. This paper details the design, construction and testing of the anticoincidence shield, as well as the performance measured during the week-long maiden flight from Esrange Space Centre to the Canadian Northwest Territories in July 2022. The in-flight performance of the shield followed design expectations, with a veto threshold <100 keV and a measured background rate of ∼0.5 Hz (20–40 keV). This is compatible with the scientific goals of the mission, where %-level minimum detectable polarisation is sought for a Hz-level source rate.