We present a simple and versatile polarimeter for x rays in the energy range of 10–30 keV. It uses Compton scattering in low-Z materials such as beryllium or boron carbide. The azimuthal distribution of the scattered x rays is sampled by an array of 12 silicon PIN diodes operated at room temperature. We evaluated the polarimetry performance using Monte-Carlo simulations and show experimental results.
REFERENCES
The SiPIN diodes and preamplifiers were purchased in the companies First Sensor AG, Berlin, Germany and eV Products Inc., Saxonburg, USA. Details of their characterization are presented in the master thesis of K.-U. Schaessburger, “Si-detector development for gamma- and x-ray imaging applications,” Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden (2008).
Details about the implementaion of this algorithm in our data acquisition system can be found in the Ph.D. thesis of A. Khaplanov, “Position-sensitive germanium detectors for gamma-ray tracking, imaging and polarimetry,” Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden (2010).