Masayuki Fujii

Gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS) for lunar polar orbiter SELENE

The high-precision gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS) on the lunar polar orbiter SELENE is designed to measure 200 keV—12 MeV gamma rays in order to determine elemental compositions of the lunar surface. The GRS consists of a large germanium (Ge) crystal as a main detector and a massive bismuth germanate crystal and a plastic scintillator as anticoincidence detectors. The Ge detector is cooled by a Stirling cryocooler with its compressor attached to a passive radiator facing the cold space. The cooling system maintains the Ge detector below 90 K during the observation. The flight model of the GRS has achieved an energy resolution of 3.0 keV (FWHM) at 1333 keV. Energy spectra obtained by the GRS will show sharp gamma-ray lines whose energies identify the elements and whose intensities determine the concentrations of the elements, permitting global mapping of the elemental abundances in the sub-surface of the Moon. The elemental maps obtained by the GRS with such high-energy resolution enable us to study lunar geoscience problems.

Response from piezoelectric elements appearing immediately after collisions with silver particles

Ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) elements were studied by directly bombarding them with hypervelocity silver particles. The mass and velocity of these hypervelocity silver particles ranged from 1to80pg and 2to6km∕s, respectively. This report examines the pulsed signals observed immediately after collision. The first cycle of the pulse is discussed because the information on impact is presumably recorded on the wave form. The experimental data were analyzed using the wave form that was generated immediately after collision. Consequently, the following conclusions were made: (1) the sensitivity of the element is independent of the thickness of element, (2) the pulse height is proportional to the particle momentum over the measured range, and (3) the wave form is not explicitly related to the velocity of the particles at the time of collision. The potential of a single PZT element acts as a real-time detector for hypervelocity microparticles is discussed.

Comparison between two piezoelectric lead-zirconate-titanate detectors bombarded with high-energy xenon beam

The characteristics of piezoelectric lead–zirconate–titanate (PZT) detectors were studied by directly irradiating them with a 400 MeV/n Xe beam. The sensitivity of a multilayered detector was discussed in comparison with that of a monolayered detector. It was found that the sensitivity of the detectors depended on their structure.

Velocity-dependent wave forms of piezoelectric elements undergoing collisions with iron particles having velocities ranging from 5 to 63 km/s

A response from piezoelectric lead-zirconate-titanate elements was investigated by bombarding them with hypervelocity iron particles. The observed signal form was clearly dependent on the particle velocity during collisions. The signal form exhibited oscillations for particle velocities less than 6km∕s, whereas it changed drastically into a solitary pulse above 20km∕s. This behavior was exclusively classified based on the velocity. The rise time of the solitary pulse in the output form had a good correlation with the velocity at impact. The change in the form was discussed in terms of elastic and plastic states by regarding Young’s modulus as a criterion between both states. It is proposed that a single piezoelectric element has the potential to detect the velocity of particles in space.

Detection of high-energy heavy ions using piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate

The characteristics of a radiation detector fabricated with stacks of piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) elements were studied by irradiating it with a 400 MeV/n xenon (Xe) beam for various beam pulse durations. This detector is referred to as the multilayered detector (MD). To understand the production mechanism behind the output voltage obtained from the MD, measurement of the spatial distribution of the output signals generated in the MD was attempted. It was found that the amplitude observed was dependent on the number of Xe ions per unit time and the amount of ionization loss energy of Xe ions in PZT.The characteristics of a radiation detector fabricated with stacks of piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) elements were studied by irradiating it with a 400 MeV/n xenon (Xe) beam for various beam pulse durations. This detector is referred to as the multilayered detector (MD). To understand the production mechanism behind the output voltage obtained from the MD, measurement of the spatial distribution of the output signals generated in the MD was attempted. It was found that the amplitude observed was dependent on the number of Xe ions per unit time and the amount of ionization loss energy of Xe ions in PZT.

Measurement of temperature after hypervelocity collision of microparticles in the range from 10 to 40 km/s

The temperature recorded immediately after hypervelocity collision of microparticles comprising iron and nickel with a silver-coated piezoelectric plate was analyzed using photomultipliers of different spectral response characteristics. The conversion rate between the velocity and temperature is estimated to be ∼900 K/km∕s in the velocity range of 10–40 km/s. This rate is greater than that reported earlier.

Study of the characteristics of a piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate radiation detector using a pulsed xenon source

The detector characteristics of piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) were studied by directly irradiating a multilayered PZT detector with 400 MeV/n xenon ions. An extracted beam was processed with a rotating slit. Thus, passed through ∼103 xenon ions were available for 50 to 250 μs. The effect of polarization on the output signal was discussed, and the optimal electrode configuration was determined. The output signal appeared as an isolated pulse whose amplitude was qualitatively understood by the Bethe–Bloch formula. However, the calculated and the observed values differed depending on the rotation speed of the slit. A process that can explain the differences is presented here. The output signal appearing beyond the range of 400 MeV/n xenon ion beam was discussed. The sensitivity was compared with that obtained with hypervelocity collision of dust.

Dependence of thickness of lead zirconate titanate material used as radiation detector

The characteristics of a radiation detector fabricated with stacks of piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) elements were studied by irradiation with a 400 MeV/n xenon (Xe) beam. The detector was designed to monitor the output voltage formed on the surface of each element. Three additional PZT elements were placed in front of the detector to increase the thickness of the PZT target. It seemed that the individual output voltage observed at a position beyond the range was dependent on the amount of strain generated by the ionization loss energy of Xe ions within the range.

The Kaguya gamma-ray spectrometer: instrumentation and in-flight performances

A Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) had been developed as a part of the science payload for the first Japanese lunar explorer, Kaguya. The Kaguya was successfully launched from Tanegashima Space Center on September 14, 2007 and was injected into an orbit around the Moon and the mission ended on June 11, 2009. The Kaguya GRS (hereafter KGRS) has a large-volume Ge semiconductor detector of 252 cc as the main detector and bismuth-germanate and plastic scintillators as an active shielding. The Ge detector achieved an energy resolution of 3.0 keV (FWHM) for 1332 keV gamma ray in ground test despite the use of a mechanical cryocooler and observed gamma rays in energies ranging 0.2 to 12 MeV in lunar orbit. It was the first use of a Ge detector for lunar exploration. During the mission, KGRS participated in geochemical survey and investigated the elemental compositions of subsurface materials of the Moon. In this paper, we summarize the overview of the KGRS describing the design and in-flight performance of the instrument. This paper provides basic information required for reading science articles regarding the KGRSs observation data.

Response of Lead Zirconate Titanate without Poling to High-Energy Heavy-Ion Beam

A radiation detector based on the piezoelectric effect, which is fabricated using lead zirconate titanate (PZT), has been investigated by irradiating it with a 400 MeV/n xenon (Xe) beam. To estimate quantitatively the electric charge appearing on the PZT detector, the detector made of PZT without poling was used in this study. It was found that the sensitivity of the detector without poling was reduced by ~1/20 compared with that of the detector with poling within the limits of the experimental conditions.