The Nuclear Compton Telescope (NCT)

Klaus-Peter Ziock
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Physics and Advanced Technologies
October 22, 2002

Abstract:
The Nuclear Compton Telescope is a prototype for the next generation of gamma-ray telescopes. It follows the lead of the Comptel instrument that successfully used the Compton process to create images of the gamma-ray sky. However, NCT is based on planar germanium detectors that provide not only excellent energy resolution but also provide full three-dimensional position resolution throughout their volume. This allows for a 100-fold increase in effective area per unit volume. The position resolution and veto shields will also provide a factor of ~ 30 decrease in background per unit volume over the just launched Integral SPI instrument. NCT will provide images in the energy range from 200 keV through 15 MeV. This energy band is well suited to the investigation of many high-energy phenomena and objects including, nucleosynthesis in supernovae, positron annihilation radiation, the interaction of cosmic rays with the intergalactic medium, and the study of compact objects including black holes. In addition, the instrument will function as the most sensitive polarimeter ever flown in the energy band from 200 keV to 500 keV.