SPECTROSCOPY, IMAGING AND COMPTON-SCATTER POLARIMETRY WITH A GERMANIUM STRIP DETECTOR

Germanium strip detectors combine the excellent energy resolution poss ible with germanium detectors with fine two-dimensional spatial resolu tion determined by orthogonal strip electrodes. We are testing a detec tor with an active volume of 5 x 5 x 1 cm(3) and a total of 50 electro des, 25 on each side with a 2mm pitch. Potential astrophysics applicat ions include use as a focal plane for a coded-aperture telescope in th e energy range similar to 5-500 keV, as the focal plane of a grazing-i ncidence telescope in the similar to 5-100 keV band, or in a Compton s catter telescope. The utilization of germanium strip detectors for the se applications requires proof of their performance capabilities in te rms of energy and spatial resolution, and efficiencies for single and multi-pixel interactions. In this paper, we demonstrate the excellent spectroscopy and imaging performance of a 2mm pitch strip detector, an d report on the results of Monte- Carlo simulations of photopeak effic iencies for single and multi-pixel interactions. These simulations sho w that 2-pixel interactions are a significant fraction of the photopea k efficiency in the 80 - 500 keV range. We demonstrate that these inte ractions can be used to measure linear polarization of a normally inci dent beam.