Design and construction of the POLAR detector
N. Produit, T.W. Bao, T. Batsch, T. Bernasconi, I. Britvich, F., Cadoux, I. Cernuda, J.Y. Chai, Y.W. Dong, N. Gauvin, W. Hajdas, M. Kole, M.N., Kong, R. Kramert, L. Li, J.T. Liu, X. Liu, R. Marcinkowski, S. Orsi, M. Pohl,, D. Rapin, D. Rybka, A. Rutczynska, H.L. Shi, P. Socha
TL;DR
The POLAR detector is a space-based gamma-ray polarimeter designed to measure GRB polarization, successfully launched in 2016, with construction details, encountered challenges, and initial in-orbit performance aligning with expectations.
Contribution
This paper details the design, construction, and initial performance of the POLAR gamma-ray polarimeter, a novel instrument for space-based GRB polarization measurement.
Findings
Successful deployment on Tiangong 2 in 2016
Construction challenges addressed with effective solutions
Initial in-orbit performance matches ground tests and simulations
Abstract
The POLAR detector is a space based Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) polarimeter with a wide field of view, which covers almost half the sky. The instrument uses Compton scattering of gamma rays on a plastic scintillator hodoscope to measure the polarization of the incoming photons. The instrument has been successfully launched on board of the Chinese space laboratory Tiangong~2 on September 15, 2016. The construction of the instrument components is described in this article. Details are provided on problems encountered during the construction phase and their solutions. Initial performance of the instrument in orbit is as expected from ground tests and Monte Carlo simulation.
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