Performance evaluation of CdZnTe based improved X-ray detector (iXRD) on Sharjahsat1 cubesat

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b2758674_(Table of contents)

In the scope of this thesis, we have studied the performance of a CdZnTe based X-ray detector called improved X-ray Detector (iXRD). The iXRD is the science payload of a 3U cubesat SharjahSat-1 with the primary goal of monitoring bright X-ray sources in the Galaxy. The performance assessment comprises two main studies. The first is the determination of ground calibration and performance of the iXRD, while the latter is the determination of estimated background radiation effects and the expected sensitivity of the system. We conducted experiments to determine the ground-based calibration of the iXRD. The measured energy resolution varies between 3.64 keV and 9.05 keV at 60 keV. The minimum detectable energy varies between 18.81keV and 29.03 keV. We conducted Geant4 simulations to determine the orbital background radiation effects on the iXRD and the expected sensitivity of the system. The albedo photon radiation is the most dominant and flat component in the entire iXRD energy range, while the Cosmic Diffuse Gamma-ray radiation contribution is the highest in the 20-60 keV energy band. Galactic cosmic protons have also important impact. The detection sensitivity was estimated by using the simulation results. The simulation framework was validated with experiments. The expected sensitivity is around 180 mCrab between 20-100 keV energy band. This indicates that the iXRD will be able to detect very bright X-ray source candidates.