Simulations and preliminary results from the SIFTER (scintillating fiber telescope for energetic radiation) beam test apparatus

The Scintillating Fiber Telescope for Energetic Radiation (SIFTER) is a large-area instrument concept for high-energy (E>10 MeV) gamma-ray astronomy. It takes advantage of the technology of fine (/spl sim/1 mm/sup 2/) plastic scintillating fibers in the context of a pair tracker/calorimeter telescope. In our on-going SIFTER research, we have developed a small test apparatus, consisting of 12 fiber planes, each with a potential active area of 10 cm/spl times/10 cm covered with a thin tantalum foil converter. This apparatus has been tested with high-energy photons (/spl sim/0.5-1.6 GeV) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Laboratory Hall B tagged gamma-ray facility. We report on the preliminary beam test results, concentrating on comparisons with detailed Monte Carlo simulations of the instrument performance, including track reconstruction, angular resolution and detection efficiency.