A hard X-ray camera for the study of gamma ray burst sources

Abstract

Concepts are discussed concerning the construction of a hard X-ray camera that uses inorganic scintillators such as CsI or NaI and is designed for locating gamma-ray bursts detected in the energy range from 20 to 100 keV. The proposed camera consists of a dome-shaped mask coded with a random pinhole pattern that casts a shadow on three two-dimensional imaging detectors with their viewing axes almost normal to each other. Two possibilities are described for localizing an X-ray event: one involves a thin scintillator and coherent fiber bundles for transporting photons to an image intensifier, while the other achieves localization directly with a pair of crossed one-dimensional cameras and a detector divided into optically isolated longitudinal strips. Image processing is accomplished by means of a vidicon or a CCD array in the first case and with the aid of two photomultipliers in the second.