Design and performance of a ruggedized large-area CZT detector module for hard X-ray astronomy

As part of the High Energy X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (HEMS) development program, we have designed, fabricated and tested a ruggedized CZT detector module for spaceflight applications. The module consists of four 32/spl times/32/spl times/2 mm/sup 3/ CZT detector wafers from eV Products with cross strip readout of 0.5 mm pitch, four readout boards each containing two Nova R&D, Inc RENA ASICs containing 32 channel inputs each, a support electronics board and a controller board. The entire electronics packaging fits beneath the four detectors for efficient tiling of the modules to produce large area arrays for coded mask imagers. The module has been vibrated to NASA specifications of 14 g RMS in a random shake. The novel design and results of the testing program will be presented.