Gas pixel detectors for X-ray polarimetry applications

We discuss a new class of micro pattern gas detectors, the gas pixel detector (GPD), in which a complete integration between the gas amplification structure and the read-out electronics has been reached. An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) built in deep sub-micron technology has been developed to realize a monolithic device that is, at the same time, the pixelized charge collecting electrode and the amplifying, shaping and charge measuring front-end electronics. The CMOS chip has the top metal layer patterned in a matrix of 80 μm pitch hexagonal pixels, each of them directly connected to the underneath electronics chain which has been realized in the remaining five layers of the 0.35 μm VLSI technology. Results from tests of a first prototype of such detector with 2 k pixels and a full scale version with 22 k pixels are presented. The application of this device for Astronomical X-ray Polarimetry is discussed. The experimental detector response to polarized and unpolarized X-ray radiation is shown. Results from a full MonteCarlo simulation for two astronomical sources, the Crab Nebula and the Hercules X1, are also reported.