Simulation of photoelectric X-ray polarimetry and reconstruction of the photoelectron azimuthal angle

Sensitive X-ray polarimetry in the keV energy range can be achieved by measuring the azimuthal angle distribution of emitted electrons after the photoelectric absorption of X-rays in a micropattern gas detector. However, the initial direction of the electron is not readily measurable due to the randomization of its motion during energy loss. By using the Geant4, Maxwell and Garfield packages, we simulated the detected electron tracks following photoelectric absorption, electron drift and diffusion in the gas, and proposed a technique capable of reconstructing the initial direction of the emitted photoelectron. The technique allows us to measure the angular modulation of flux predicted for a polarized X-ray beam. We calculated the modulation factors in 2-10 keV with a gas mixture of neon and CO₂ , and discussed how electron diffusion along the drift will dilute the track and suppress the modulation. These results are useful for the design of the X-ray polarimeter.     

Waveform digitizing for LaBr_3/NaI phoswich detector

The detection efficiency of phoswich detector starts to decrease when Compton scattering becomes significant. Events with energy deposit in both scintillators, if not rejected, are not useful for spectral analysis as the full energy of the incident photon cannot be reconstructed with conventional readout. We show that once the system response is carefully calibrated, the full energy of those double deposit events can be reconstructed using a waveform digitizer as the readout. Our experiment suggests that the efficiency of a photopeak at 662 keV can be increased by a factor of 2 using our LaBr₃/NaI phoswich detector.