HERD space mission: Probing the Galactic Cosmic Ray frontier

作者：I. Cagnoli, Dimitrios Kyratzis, D. Serini · 发表于：Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1016/j.nima.2024.169788 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena、Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry、Particle Detector Development and Performance

The High Energy cosmic Radiation Detection (HERD) facility, is a flagship space-borne instrument to be installed on-board China Space Station (CSS), around 2027. Its primary scientific goals include: precise measurements of Cosmic Ray (CR) energy spectra and mass composition up to the highest achievable energies in space (∼ few PeV), gamma ray astronomy and transient studies, along with indirect searches for Dark Matter particles. HERD is designed to detect incident particles from both its top and four lateral faces. Owing to its pioneering design, an order of magnitude increase in geometric acceptance is foreseen, compared to current generation experiments. HERD is conceived around a deep (∼55 X0, ∼3λI) and highly-segmented 3D calorimeter (CALO). Furthermore, a Fiber Tracker (FIT) is instrumented on all active sides, while a Plastic Scintillator Detector (PSD) covers the aforementioned calorimeter and tracker. Ultimately, a Silicon Charge Detector (SCD) envelops the above-stated sub-detectors, with a Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) instrumented on one of its lateral faces, for energy calibration in the TeV scale. An overview of the HERD instrument will be provided in this work, ranging from its main scientific objectives, expected detector performances and recent advancements.