• Kubo, S.
• Katsukawa, Y.
• Saitoh, Y.
• Yamagami, T.
• Tamura, T.
• Tsuneta, S.
• Kobayashi, Ken
• Kumagai, K.

Abstract

We present an overview of a balloon-borne hard X-ray detector system designed for high spectral resolution observation of solar flares. The goal is to achieve a 3-keV energy resolution over an energy range of 15--100 keV, to observe both non-thermal and thermal components of the solar flare hard X-ray emission. We achieve this by using an array of 16 CdTe detectors, each with a 10 times 10 times 0.5 mm size. These detectors use an Indium electrode on one side which act as a Shottky barrier, reducing leak current and improving energy resolution compared to conventional CdTe detectors. The detectors are passively shielded by 2 mm of lead. The detectors are installed in a pressurized enclosure to prevent coronal discharge. In order to maximize passive cooling, thermal shields are installed around the detector housing to block sunlight and infrared emission from the ground. Thermal math models indicate that the detectors will be cooled to below 0<SUP>circ</SUP>C. The signal from the 16 detectors are processed by independent preamplifiers and amplifiers, and a custom-designed 16 channel multichannel analyzer acquires the signal and constructs 16 independent spectra. These are read every 0.56 seconds and transmitted by telemetry. A 0.14 second resolution counter is used to correct for dead time. The instrument is currently undergoing testing and calibration, and first flight is scheduled for September 2001 from an ISAS (Institute of Space and Astronautical Science) facility in Sanriku, Japan. The flight will last one day at an altitude of 42 km. <P />...

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy
• Indium