The CREAM calorimeter: Performance in tests and flights

Abstract

The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) balloon-borne experiment, designed to directly measure cosmic-ray particle energies from ∼10 11 to ∼1015 eV, had two successful flights since December 2004, with a total duration of 70 days. The CREAM calorimeter is comprised of 20 layers of 1 radiation length (X0) tungsten interleaved with 20 active layers each made up of fifty 1 cm wide scintillating fiber ribbons. The scintillation signals are read out with multi pixel Hybrid Photo Diodes (HPDs), VA32-HDR2/TA32C ASICs and LTC1400 ADCs. During detector construction, various tests were carried out using radioactive sources, UV-LEDs, and particle beams. We will present results from these tests and show preliminary results from the two flights. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.