MeVCube: a 6U CubeSat concept for MeV observations

Giulio Lucchetta; Markus Ackermann; Rolf Bühler; Francesco Zappon

doi:10.1117/12.2561510

13 December 2020 MeVCube: a 6U CubeSat concept for MeV observations

Giulio Lucchetta, Markus Ackermann, Rolf Bühler, Francesco Zappon

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 11444, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2020: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 114444W (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2561510
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2020, Online Only

Conference Poster

Abstract

Despite the great success achieved by X-ray and gamma-ray observatories in the last two decades, the energy range between few hundreds keV and few MeVs remains poorly explored. COMPTEL, on board CGRO (1991- 2000), was the last telescope to explore the MeV domain, with a modest sensitivity. Many missions, like AMEGO, HERMES and ETCC have been proposed, in order to fill this gap in observations. However, the time-scale for development and launch of such big missions is around 10 years. Looking at this scenario, a nano-satellite Compton telescope, with small cost and relatively short development time, may be profitable for the immediate future. MeVCube is a 6 U CubeSat concept currently under investigation at DESY. The scientific payload is based on two layers of pixelated Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride (CdZnTe) detectors, coupled with low-power read-out electronics (ASIC, VATA450.3). We demonstrate through simulations that even such a small telescope could cover the energy range between hundreds keV up to few MeVs with a sensitivity comparable to that of missions like COMPTEL and INTEGRAL. Preliminary experimental studies of CdZnTe detectors with a custom pixelated anode design and read-out electronics are presented as well.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Giulio Lucchetta, Markus Ackermann, Rolf Bühler, and Francesco Zappon "MeVCube: a 6U CubeSat concept for MeV observations", Proc. SPIE 11444, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2020: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 114444W (13 December 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2561510

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