A compact and modular X and gamma-ray detector with a CsI scintillator and double-readout Silicon Drift Detectors

摘要

A future compact and modular X and gamma-ray spectrometer (XGS) has beendesigned and a series of prototypes have been developed and tested. Theexperiment envisages the use of CsI scintillator bars read out at both ends bysingle-cell 25 mm2 Silicon Drift Detectors. Digital algorithms are used todiscriminate between events absorbed in the Silicon layer (lower energy X rays)and events absorbed in the scintillator crystal (higher energy X rays andgamma-rays). The prototype characterization is shown and the modular design forfuture experiments with possible astrophysical applications (e.g. for theTHESEUS mission proposed for the ESA M5 call) are discussed.