The Charged Particle Veto System of the Cosmic Ray Electron Synchrotron Telescope
Open Access
Author:
Geske, Matthew Thomas
Graduate Program:
Physics
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
July 25, 2014
Committee Members:
Stephane Coutu, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor Irina Mocioiu, Committee Member Miguel Mostafa, Committee Member Donald P Schneider, Committee Member
Keywords:
cosmic ray electron high-energy balloon embedded-fiber
Abstract:
The Cosmic Ray Electron Synchrotron Telescope is a balloon-borne detector designed to measure cosmic electrons at energies from 2 to 50 TeV. CREST completed a successful 10-day Antarctic flight which launched on December 25, 2011. CREST utilizes a novel detection method, searching for the synchrotron radiation emitted by the interaction of TeV-energy electrons with the geomagnetic field. The main detector component for CREST is a 32 x 32 square array of BaF2 crystal detectors coupled to photomultiplier tubes, with an inter-crystal spacing of 7.5 cm.
This document describes the design, construction and flight of the CREST experiment. A special focus is put upon the charged particle veto system, and its use in the analysis of the CREST results. The veto system, consisting of a series of 27 large slabs of organic plastic scintillator read out through photomultiplier tubes, is designed as a passive mechanism for rejecting charged particle events that could contaminate the X-ray signal from synchrotron radiation.
The CREST veto system has 99.15% geometric coverage, with individual detector components exhibiting a mean detection efficiency of 99.7%. In whole, the veto system provides a charged particle rejection factor of better than 7 x 10^3.
