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12 - Development of a Thomson X-ray polarimeter

from Part I - Polarimetry techniques

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2010

By
P. V. Rishin ,
B. Paul ,
R. Duraichelvan ,
J. Marykutty ,
D. Jincy  and
R. Cowsik
Edited by
Ronaldo Bellazzini ,
Enrico Costa ,
Giorgio Matt  and
Gianpiero Tagliaferri
P. V. Rishin
Affiliation:
Raman Research Institute, Sadashivanagar, India
B. Paul
Affiliation:
Raman Research Institute, Sadashivanagar, India
R. Duraichelvan
Affiliation:
Roman Research Institute, Sadashivanagar, India
J. Marykutty
Affiliation:
School of Pure and Applied Physics, Mahatma Gandhi University, India
D. Jincy
Affiliation:
School of Pure and Applied Physics, Mahatma Gandhi University, India
R. Cowsik
Affiliation:
McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis
Ronaldo Bellazzini
Affiliation:
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Rome
Enrico Costa
Affiliation:
Istituto Astrofisica Spaziale, Rome
Giorgio Matt
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi Roma Tre
Gianpiero Tagliaferri
Affiliation:
Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera
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Summary

We describe the current status of the design and development of a Thomson X-ray polarimeter suitable for a small satellite mission. Currently we are considering two detector geometries, one using rectangular detectors placed on four sides of a scattering element and the other using a single cylindrical detector with the scattering element at the center. The rectangular detector configuration has been fabricated and tested. The cylindrical detector is currently under fabrication. In order to compensate any pointing offset of the satellite, a collimator with a flat-topped response has been developed that provides a constant effective area over an angular range. We have also developed a double crystal monochromator/polarizer for the purpose of test and calibration of the polarimeter. Preliminary test results from the developmental activities are presented here.

Introduction

A Thomsom X-ray polarimeter experiment has been proposed for a small satellite mission of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Currently, a laboratory model has been developed. This experiment will be suitable for X-ray polarization measurement of hard X-ray sources like accretion powered pulsars, black hole candidates in low-hard states etc. For about 50 brightest X-ray sources a minimum detectable polarization of 2–3% will be achieved with the final configuration.

Two configurations are considered based on the geometry of the detector element: (1) rectangular detectors and (2) cylindrical detectors. The X-ray polarization will be measured by spinning the platform around the viewing axis. In both the cases, energy range covered will be 5–30 keV.

Type
Chapter
Information
X-ray Polarimetry
A New Window in Astrophysics
 , pp. 83 - 87
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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