We describe the development of a miniaturized HPGe gamma-spectrometer for space applications. The spectrometer is designed around a 170 cm3 intrinsically pure n-type Ge crystal in the closed-end coaxial configuration cooled by a miniature Sterling cycle electric cooler. The complete assembly has a mass of 2.9 kg and consumes 6.6 W under normal operation. The spectrometer was tested in a specially designed chamber which simulates the space environment. FWHM energy resolutions of 2.9 keV and 4.0 keV were achieved at 122 keV and 1332 keV, respectively. With the cooler switched-off, these improved to 2.0 keV and 3.0 keV, respectively, indicating that induced noise from the mechanical vibrations of the cooler accounts for about half the resolution.

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The recent introduction of coplanar grid techniques has led to resurgence in interest in developing large volume compound semiconductor detectors that have a reasonable g-ray response but also good spectroscopic resolution. We report the results of a series of hard X-and g-ray measurements on a large 15 Â 15 mm 2 , 10 mm thick CdZnTe coplanar grid detector. The measurements were carried out at the HASYLAB and ESRF synchrotron radiation facilities using highly monochromatic pencil beams across the energy range 20-800 keV. Additional full-area measurements were carried out using radioactive sources. All measurements were carried out at room temperature. The measured energy resolution under full-area illumination was 8 and 12 keV FWHM at 59.95 and 662 keV, respectively. Under pencil beam illumination, the measured resolutions were essentially the same. The detector energy response function was found to be linear over the energy range 20-1400 keV with an average rms nonlinearity of 1.4%, consistent with statistics. The spatial uniformity of the detector was evaluated at 30, 60 and 180 keV by raster scanning a 20 Â 20 mm 2 monoenergetic X-ray beam across the active area. Apart from a few localized areas, the detector response was found to uniform at the few percent level, consistent with statistics. At 180 keV, the nonuniformity in the energy response due to the grids was estimated to be at the 0.7% level.

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