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The energy response of LaBr\(_{3}\)(Ce), LaBr\(_{3}\)(Ce,Sr), and NaI(Tl) crystals for GECAM

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Abstract

The GECAM series of satellites utilizes LaBr\(_3\)(Ce), LaBr\(_3\)(Ce,Sr), and NaI(Tl) crystals as sensitive materials for gamma-ray detectors (GRDs). To investigate the nonlinearity in the detection of low-energy gamma rays and address the errors in the calibration of the E–C relationship, comprehensive tests and comparative studies of the three aforementioned crystals were conducted using Compton electrons, radioactive sources, and mono-energetic X-rays. The nonlinearity test results of the Compton electrons and X-rays demonstrated substantial differences, with all three crystals presenting a higher nonlinearity for X/\(\gamma\)-rays than for Compton electrons. Despite the LaBr\(_3\)(Ce) and LaBr\(_3\)(Ce,Sr) crystals having higher absolute light yields, they exhibited a noticeable nonlinear decrease in the light yield, especially at energies below 400 keV. The NaI(Tl) crystal demonstrated an "excess" light output in the 6–200 keV range, reaching a maximum "excess" of 9.2% at 30 keV in the X-ray testing and up to 15.5% at 14 keV during Compton electron testing, indicating a significant advantage in the detection of low-energy gamma rays. Furthermore, we explored the underlying causes of the observed nonlinearity in these crystals. This study not only elucidates the detector responses of GECAM, but also initiates a comprehensive investigation of the nonlinearity of domestically produced lanthanum bromide and sodium iodide crystals.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Science Data Bank at https://cstr.cn/31253.11.sciencedb.14337 and https://www.doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.14337.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Particle and Astrophysics Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Pei-Yi Feng, Zheng-Hua An & Hong Lu

  2. Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Pei-Yi Feng, Zheng-Hua An, Da-Li Zhang, Xin-Qiao Li, Shao-Lin Xiong, Chao Zheng, Ke Gong, Sheng Yang, Xiao-Jing Liu, Min Gao, Xiang-Yang Wen, Ya-Qing liu, Yan-Bing Xu, Xiao-Yun Zhao, Jia-Cong Liu, Fan Zhang & Hong Lu

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Pei-Yi Feng, Chao Zheng & Jia-Cong Liu

  4. Experimental Physics Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xi-Lei Sun

  5. State Key Laboratory of Particle Detection and Electronics, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xi-Lei Sun & Huang Jiang

  6. School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China

    Yong Deng & Jun-Jie Li

  7. National Engineering Research Center for Rare Earth, Grirem Advanced Materials Co., Ltd. and General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals, Beijing, 100088, China

    Cheng-Er Wang

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  1. Pei-Yi Feng
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by P-YF. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Pi-Y F, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xi-Lei Sun.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program (Nos. 2022YFB3503600 and 2021YFA0718500), Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nos. XDA15360102), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 12273042 and 12075258).

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Feng, PY., Sun, XL., An, ZH. et al. The energy response of LaBr\(_{3}\)(Ce), LaBr\(_{3}\)(Ce,Sr), and NaI(Tl) crystals for GECAM. NUCL SCI TECH 35, 23 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-024-01383-8

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