Continued Development of Small-Pixel CZT and CdTe Detectors for Future High-Angular-Resolution Hard X-ray Missions

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Small Explorer Mission was launched in June 2012 and has demonstrated the technical feasibility and high scientific impact of hard X-ray astronomy. We propose to continue our current R&D program to develop finely pixelated semiconductor detectors and the associated readout electronics for the focal plane of a NuSTAR follow-up mission. The detector-ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) package will be ideally matched to the new generation of low-cost, low-mass X-ray mirrors which achieve an order of magnitude better angular resolution than the NuSTAR mirrors. As part of this program, the Washington University group will optimize the contacts of 2x2 cm^2 footprint Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) detectors contacted with 100x116 hexagonal pixels at a next-neighbor pitch of 200 microns. The Brookhaven National Laboratory group will design, fabricate, and test the next generation of the HEXID ASIC matched to the new X-ray mirrors and the detectors, providing a low-power 100x116 channel ASIC with extremely low readout noise (i.e. with a root mean square noise of 13 electrons). The detectors will be tested with radioactive sources and in the focal plane of high-angular-resolution X-ray mirrors at the X-ray beam facilities at the Goddard and Marshall Space Flight Centers. More »