The spontaneous polarization of pyroelectric crystal is utilized to X-ray emission in low pressure gas of ~1 Pa, which has a potential as a future in-situ X-ray source with small size, light weight, and low electric power consumption. The pyroelectric X-ray production still has problems as its intensity and reproducibility because the mechanism of electron production is still an open question. We have experimentally and numerically evaluated pyroelectric X-ray generation relevant to electric discharges around the pyroelectric crystal with various sizes of target support and target with/without a needle. Three kinds of electric discharge, between crystal top and metallic target (CT-MT discharge), between crystal top and crystal bottom (CT-CB discharge), and along with crystal surface (CS discharge), were observed. The CT-MT discharge was measured by the 1 cm × 5 cm target support or target with a needle, which induced irregular X-ray increases. X-ray intensity became reproducible, but not so large when the CT-MT discharges were measured. The CTCB and CS discharges were active for the large target plates. These two discharges occur irregularly, resulting low reproducibility. While reduction of crystal potential by the CS discharge was not large, the CT-CB discharge stopped Xray emission. When the CT-CB was not measured, the X-ray intensity became large. Calculation results of electric fields at around the crystal supported the experimental results, which implied that selection of appropriate target support is one of important factors to obtain large and reproducible X-ray intensity by the pyroelectric X-ray generation.
The elemental composition and its distribution on planetary surface provide important constraints on the origin and evolution of the planetary body. The nuclear spectrometer consisting of a neutron spectrometer and a gamma-ray spectrometer obtains elemental compositions by remote sensing. Especially, the neutron spectrometer is able to determine the hydrogen concentration, a piece of information that plays an important role in thermal history of the planets. In this work, numerical and experimental studies on the neutron spectrometer for micro-satellite application were conducted. It is found that background count rate of neutron produced from micro-satellite is very small, which enables to obtain successful results in short time observation. The neutron spectrometer combining a lithium-6 glass scintillator with a boron loaded plastic scintillator was used to be able to detect neutrons in different energy ranges. It was experimentally confirmed that the neutron signals from these scintillators were successfully discriminated by the difference of scintillation decay time between two detectors. The measurement of neutron count rates of two scintillators is found to determine hydrogen concentration on the planetary surfaces in the future missions.
The elemental composition on planetary surface provides us an essential information to improve geological and geochemical understanding of planets. An active X-ray spectrometer (AXS) was developed and proposed as one of the mission payloads to perform in-situ X-ray fluorescence analysis. The AXS consists of multiple pyroelectric X-ray generators (PXGs) and a silicon drift detector (SDD). Although the PXG is light in weight and low in electric consumption, the limited X-ray intensity and reproducibility hamper obtaining the elemental composition by short time observation. This is attributed mainly to the less known mechanism of X-ray and electron emission by the pyroelectric crystal. In this study, we observed the crystal surface during X-ray emission as a function of the distance between the crystal top and a Cu target. Two types of light emission derived from the electric discharge were observed. The dependence of light emission on the distance was found to be related with the physical mechanism of pyroelectric X-ray emission. The study provides clues to obtain high intensity and reproducible X-rays emission. The experimental results and discussion are presented in this paper.
The chemical element abundance on planetary surface is essential for planetary science. We have been developing an active X-ray spectrometer (AXS), which is an in-situ chemical element analyzer based on the X-ray florescence analysis for future planetary landing missions. The AXS consists of an X-ray detector and multiple X-ray sources. Although a pyroelectric X-ray generator is promising for the AXS as an X-ray source, the raise of emission X-ray intensity is necessary for short-time and precise determination of elemental composition. Also, in order to enhance the detection efficiency of light major elements such as Mg, Al, and Si, we have tested the low energy X-ray emission by changing the target material. In this study, the X-ray emission calculation at the target by Monte Carlo simulation and the X-ray emission experiments were carried out. More than 106 cps of the time-averaged X-ray emission rate was achieved in maximum using a LiTaO3 crystal with 4 mm thickness and Cu target with 10 um thickness. The performance of pyroelectric X-ray generator is presented in this paper.
An active X-ray spectrometer (AXS) is now being developed as a payload candidate for the rover on SELENE-2, the next Japanese lunar exploration mission. The AXS will determine the chemical compositions of lunar rocks and regolith around the landing site. The surface of lunar rock samples will be ground using a rock abrasion tool. Thus, fundamental studies on the X-ray fluorescence analysis for lunar rocks and regolith are required to design and develop the AXS. In this study, we have investigated the X-ray fluorescence analysis in order to evaluate the effects of surface roughness of samples and the angle of incident and emergent X-rays. It was found that the fluorescent X-ray yield for low energy X-rays, i.e. the light elements, decreases at rough surface samples. This effect of surface roughness becomes small for smooth surface samples. It was also found that the fluorescent X-ray yield depends on the incident angle, which is attributed to the fact that the X-ray fluorescence occurs closer to the sample surface at larger incident angles. Since the emergent X-rays are affected by the detection geometry and surface roughness, the incident angle effect also depends on the above conditions.
S. Torii, M. Hareyama, N. Hasebe, K. Kasahara, S. Kobayashi, S. Kodaira, H. Murakami, S. Ozawa, S. Udo, N. Yamashita, K. Ebisawa, H. Fuke, J. Nishimura, Y. Saito, M. Takayanagi, H. Tomida, S. Ueno, T. Yamagami, K. Hibino, S. Okuno, T. Tamura, N. Tateyama, T. Kobayashi, T. Kotani, K. Yamaoka, A. Yoshida, Y. Shimizu, M. Takita, T. Yuda, Y. Katayose, M. Shibata, E. Kamioka, A. Kubota, K. Yoshida, M. Ichimura, S. Kuramata, Y. Tunesada, T. Terasawa, H. Kitamura, Y. Uchihori, Y. Komori, K. Mizutani, K. Munakata, A. Shiomi, J. Mitchell, A. Ericsson, T. Hams, J. Krizmanic, A. Moissev, M. Sasaki, J. Ormes, M. Cherry, T. Guzik, J. Wefel, W. Binns, M. Israel, H. Krawczynski, P. Marrocchesi, M. Gagliesi, G. Bigongiari, A. Caldarone, M. Kim, R. Cecchi, P. Maestro, V. Millucci, R. Zei, C. Avanzini, T. Lotadze, A. Messineo, F. Morsani, O. Adirani, L. Bonechi, P. Papini, E. Vannuccini, J. Chan, W. Gan, T. Lu, Y. Ma, H. Wang, G. Chen
KEYWORDS: Particles, Gamma radiation, Sensors, Space telescopes, Electroluminescence, Scintillators, Signal to noise ratio, Anisotropy, Telescopes, Solar energy
We are developing the CALorimetric Electron Telescope, CALET, mission for the Japanese Experiment Module
Exposed Facility, JEM-EF, of the International Space Station. Major scientific objectives are to search for the nearby
cosmic ray sources and dark matter by carrying out a precise measurement of the electrons in 1 GeV - 20 TeV and
gamma rays in 20 MeV - several 10 TeV. CALET has a unique capability to observe electrons and gamma rays over 1
TeV since the hadron rejection power can be larger than 105 and the energy resolution better than a few % over 100 GeV.
The detector consists of an imaging calorimeter with scintillating fibers and tungsten plates and a total absorption
calorimeter with BGO scintillators. CALET has also a capability to measure cosmic ray H, He and heavy ionsi up to
1000 TeV. It also will have a function to monitor solar activity and gamma ray transients. The phase A study has
started on a schedule of launch in 2013 by H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) for 5 year observation.
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