MeV-level electron and gamma ray sensitivites of modern far ultraviolet sensitive microchannel plate detectors

Michael W. Davis; Thomas K. Greathouse; Chathan M. Cooke; Ryan C. Blase; G. Randall Gladstone; Kurt D. Retherford

doi:10.1117/12.2232755

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27 July 2016 MeV-level electron and gamma ray sensitivites of modern far ultraviolet sensitive microchannel plate detectors

Michael W. Davis, Thomas K. Greathouse, Chathan M. Cooke, Ryan C. Blase, G. Randall Gladstone, Kurt D. Retherford

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Proceedings Volume 9915, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy VII; 99152B (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232755
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

The Jovian system is the focus of multiple current and future NASA and ESA missions, but dangerously high radiation levels surrounding the planet make operations of instruments sensitive to high energy electrons or gamma rays problematic. Microchannel plate (MCP) detectors have been the detectors of choice in planetary ultraviolet spectrographs for decades. However, the same properties that give these detectors high response to vacuum ultraviolet photons also make them sensitive to high energy electrons and gamma rays. The success of ultraviolet investigations in the Jovian system depends on effectively shielding these MCP detectors to protect them as much as possible from this withering radiation. The design of such shielding hinges on our understanding of the response of MCP detectors to the high energy electrons and gamma rays found there. To this end, Southwest Research Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology collaborated in 2012-13 to measure the response of a flight-spare microchannel plate detector to a beam of high energy electrons. The detector response was measured at multiple beam energies ranging from 0.5-2.5 MeV and multiple currents. This response was then checked with MCNP6, a radiation transport simulation tool, to determine the secondary gamma rays produced by the primary electrons striking the detector window. We report on the measurement approach and the inferred electron and gamma sensitivities.

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Michael W. Davis, Thomas K. Greathouse, Chathan M. Cooke, Ryan C. Blase, G. Randall Gladstone, and Kurt D. Retherford "MeV-level electron and gamma ray sensitivites of modern far ultraviolet sensitive microchannel plate detectors", Proc. SPIE 9915, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy VII, 99152B (27 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232755

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