AstroPix: Investigating the Potential of Silicon Pixel Sensors in the Future of Gamma-ray Astrophysics

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This paper details preliminary photon measurements with the monolithic silicon detector ATLASPix, a pixel detector built and optimized for the CERN experiment ATLAS.

• The goal of this paper is to determine the promise of pixelated silicon in future space-based gamma-ray experiments.
• With this goal in mind, radioactive photon sources were used to determine the energy resolution and detector response of ATLASPix; these are novel measurements for ATLASPix, a detector built for a ground-based particle accelerator.
• As part of this project a new iteration of monolithic Si pixels, named AstroPix, have been created based on ATLASPix, and the eventual goal is to further optimize AstroPix for gamma-ray detection by constructing a prototype Compton telescope.The energy resolution of both the digital and analog output of ATLASPix is the focus of this paper, as it is a critical metric for Compton telescopes.