A Hard X-Ray Solar Flare Polarimeter Design Based on Scintillating Fibers

We have developed a design for a Compton scatter polarimeter to measure the polarization of hard X-rays (50{300 keV) from solar ares. The modular design is based on an annular array of scintillating bers coupled to a 5-inch position-sensitive PMT. Incident photons scatter from the ber array into a small array of NaI detectors located at the center of the annulus. The location of the interactions in both the ber array and in the NaI array can be used to measure the linear polarization of the incident ux. This compact design may be well-suited to a variety of astrophysical applications. An extensive series of Monte Carlo simulations has been performed to characterize this design.