The energy range 0.3-100 MeV is important because it contains the critical signatures of a variety of emission processes, including electron bremsstrahlung, cosmic-ray/matter interactions, and inverse Compton processes. Combining this with a wide field of view (+/- 60 degrees) and the background rejection capability afforded by electron tracking, TIGRE is well-suited for a variety of gamma-ray astronomical observations. The fact that TIGRE is at the same time both a Compton telescope and a pair detector, gives the instrument a relatively constant efficiency of about 10% over the entire energy range 0.3-100 MeV. The relatively low density of silicon allows the propagation of low energy pairs through several layers of the detector. TIGRE will also act as a low energy pair detector in the energy range 10-100 MeV as the SSDs will serve both as converter and tracker, while the CZT arrays will act as the calorimeter. In addition, surrounding D1 in this way allows events with large scatter angles to be detected, transforming TIGRE in a highly effective gamma ray polarimeter. Such a configuration allows for many more coincidences between D1 and D2, improving efficiency in the Compton regime by a factor of 5 or 10 over previous Compton telescope designs. This not only results in a more compact instrument, but also allows to extend D2 up the sides of the detector, to form a sort of open-ended box surrounding D1. The fine pitch ( 1 m) separation between D1 and D2. A second significant advance in the design of TIGRE is the use of the CZT strip detectors. This background rejection capability leads to enhanced sensitivity and resolving power. The electron tracking also allows kinematic rejection of various backgrounds, such as events which first interact in D2, as well as events which are not completely absorbed by the detector. With the knowledge of the scattered electron's energy and direction, the possible directions of the incident gamma ray describe a small arc on the sky, rather than a complete ring, greatly reducing potential source confusion and increasing sensitivity. First and foremost, the use of SSDs gives the potential to track the Compton recoil electron. The time of flight of the photon from D1 to D2 can also be measured to discriminate downward from upward (background) events.Īnother feature of TIGRE is that it was also designed to overcome many of the common limitations of Compton telescopes. The locations of the interactions in D1 and D2 are found by timing and pulse height analysis, and can be used to give the direction of the scattered photon. The Compton scatter formula can then be used to calculate the scatter angle of the gamma ray. The gamma ray is then absorbed in the bottom layer (D2). Ideally, an incoming gamma ray Compton scatters in the top layer (D1), with the energy of the recoil electron being measured there. This capability greatly enhances the instrument's efficiency, as well as providing the ability to perform as a gamma-ray polarimeter. This design feature is new for Compton telescopes, and allows TIGRE to detect large angle Compton scatter events. The CZT is arranged to form a five-sided box surrounding D1. The second component, D2, consists of 5 to 10 layers of cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) strip detectors. These detect charged particles passing through the detector, giving X and Y coordinates of the interaction location with a resolution of less 1 mm. The first, called D1, consists of 50 or more layers of double sided silicon strip detectors (SSDs). This facilitates background rejection, improved sensitivity, and image reconstruction.Īt left we can see an scheme of his configuration (click to enlarge).īasically is composed by two major elements. When combined with the direction and energy of the Compton scattered gamma ray a unique incident direction for each photon event is determined.
It uses multi-layers of thin silicon detectors to track and measure the energy losses of Compton recoil electrons. This instrument is a balloon-borne telescope of a new kind for making gamma-ray observations in the MeV energy range.