Performance of the AstroPix Prototype Module for the Barrel Imaging Calorimeter at the ePIC Detector and in Space-Based Payloads

TL;DR

AstroPix is a high-voltage CMOS pixel sensor designed for space-based gamma-ray imaging and calorimetry, demonstrating scalable performance and integration in prototypes for future high-energy telescopes and collider detectors.

Contribution

This work presents the development and testing of AstroPix, a novel HV-CMOS sensor, for use in space-based payloads and the Barrel Imaging Calorimeter at the EIC, showing promising performance results.

Findings

Successful integration of AstroPix in various prototype configurations.

Demonstrated suitability for space-based gamma-ray detection.

Effective performance in calorimeter imaging layers.

Abstract

AstroPix is a high-voltage CMOS (HV-CMOS) monolithic active pixel sensor originally developed to enable precision gamma-ray imaging and spectroscopy in the medium-energy regime (approximately 100 keV-100 MeV) based on the groundwork laid by ATLASpix and MuPix. It features a 500 um pixel pitch, in-pixel amplification and digitization, and low power consumption (around 3-4 mW/cm^2), making it scalable for large-area, multilayer telescope detector planes. The detectors have a designed dynamic range of 25 keV to 700 keV. With these features, AstroPix meets the requirements of future space-based high-energy telescopes and the imaging layers of the Barrel Imaging Calorimeter (BIC) in the Electron-Proton/Ion Collider (ePIC) detector at the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). For the space-based payload, AstroPix is being integrated into sounding rocket and balloon payloads to demonstrate the technical readiness of the devices. For BIC, AstroPix-based imaging layers interleaved within the lead/scintillating-fiber (Pb/SciFi) sampling calorimeter provide granular shower imaging, enabling key performance features such as electron/pion or gamma/neutral-pion separation. As part of the ongoing detector R&D efforts, we have been testing various AstroPix v3 configurations: the single chip, a quad-chip assembly, a three-layer stack of quad chips, and a nine-chip module that represents the smallest prototype unit of the BIC imaging layer. This presentation will highlight recent performance test results from these AstroPix detector configurations.