Characterization of avalanche photodiodes (APDs) for the CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) mission

Cologgi, F.; Alimenti, A.; Fabiani, S.; Torokhtii, K.; Silva, E.; Del Monte, E.; Baffo, I.; Bonomo, S.; Brienza, D.; Campana, R.; Centrone, M.; Contini, G.; Costa, E.; Curatolo, A.; Cucinella, G.; De Angelis, N.; De Cesare, G.; Del Re, A.; Di Cosimo, S.; Di Filippo, S.; Di Marco, A.; Di Persio, G.; Donnarumma, I.; Fanelli, P.; Leonetti, P.; Locarini, A.; Loffredo, P.; Lombardi, G.; Minervini, G.; Modenini, D.; Muleri, F.; Natalucci, S.; Negri, A.; Perelli, M.; Rossi, M.; Rubini, A.; Scalise, E.; Soffitta, P.; Terracciano, C.; Tortora, P.; Zaccagnino, E.; Zambardi, A.

doi:10.1117/12.3018943

The CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) project is a CubeSat mission orbiting the Earth aimed to measure the linear polarization of solar flares in the hard X-ray band by means of a Compton scattering p olarimeter. CUSP will allow the study of the magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration in the flaring magnetic structures of our star. CUSP is a project in the framework of the Alcor Program of the Italian Space Agency aimed at developing new CubeSat missions. It is approved for a Phase B study. In this work, we report on the characterization of the Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) that will be used as readout sensors of the absorption stage of the Compton polarimeter. We assessed the APDs gain and energy resolution as a function of temperature by irradiating the sensor with a 55Fe radioactive source. Moreover, the APDs were also characterized as being coupled to a GAGG scintillator.

Cologgi, F., Alimenti, A., Fabiani, S., Torokhtii, K., Silva, E., Del Monte, E., et al. (2024). Characterization of avalanche photodiodes (APDs) for the CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) mission. In Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering (pp.1309384). 1000 20TH ST, PO BOX 10, BELLINGHAM, WA 98227-0010 USA : SPIE [10.1117/12.3018943].