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Gottardi L, Nagayashi K. A Review of X-ray Microcalorimeters Based on Superconducting Transition Edge Sensors for Astrophysics and Particle Physics. Applied Sciences 2021; 11:3793. [DOI: 10.3390/app11093793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The state-of-the-art technology of X-ray microcalorimeters based on superconducting transition-edge sensors (TESs), for applications in astrophysics and particle physics, is reviewed. We will show the advance in understanding the detector physics and describe the recent breakthroughs in the TES design that are opening the way towards the fabrication and the read-out of very large arrays of pixels with unprecedented energy resolution. The most challenging low temperature instruments for space- and ground-base experiments will be described.
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Leutenegger MA, Eckart ME, Moseley SJ, Rohrbach SO, Black JK, Chiao MP, Kelley RL, Kilbourne CA, Porter FS. Simple, compact, high-resolution monochromatic x-ray source for characterization of x-ray calorimeter arrays. Rev Sci Instrum 2020; 91:083110. [PMID: 32872938 DOI: 10.1063/5.0005206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/02/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
X-ray calorimeters routinely achieve very high spectral resolution, typically a few eV full width at half maximum (FWHM). Measurements of calorimeter line shapes are usually dominated by the natural linewidth of most laboratory calibration sources. This compounds the data acquisition time necessary to statistically sample the instrumental line broadening and can add systematic uncertainty if the intrinsic line shape of the source is not well known. To address these issues, we have built a simple, compact monochromatic x-ray source using channel cut crystals. A commercial x-ray tube illuminates a pair of channel cut crystals that are aligned in a dispersive configuration to select the Kα1 line of the x-ray tube anode material. The entire device, including the x-ray tube, can be easily hand-carried by one person and may be positioned manually or using a mechanical translation stage. The output monochromatic beam provides a collimated image of the anode spot with magnification of unity in the dispersion direction (typically 100 μm-200 μm for the x-ray tubes used here) and is unfocused in the cross-dispersion direction so that the source image in the detector plane appears as a line. We measured output count rates as high as 10 count/s/pixel for the Hitomi soft x-ray spectrometer, which had 819 μm square pixels. We implemented different monochromator designs for energies of 5.4 keV (one design) and 8.0 keV (two designs), which have effective theoretical FWHM energy resolution of 0.125 eV, 0.197 eV, and 0.086 eV, respectively; these are well-suited for optimal calibration measurements of state-of-the art x-ray calorimeters. We measured an upper limit for the energy resolution of our Cr Kα1 monochromator of 0.7 eV FWHM at 5.4 keV, consistent with the theoretical prediction of 0.125 eV.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Leutenegger
- Code 662, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - M E Eckart
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA
| | - S J Moseley
- Code 662, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - S O Rohrbach
- Code 551, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - J K Black
- Rock Creek Scientific, 1400 East-West Hwy, Suite 807, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, USA
| | - M P Chiao
- Code 592, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - R L Kelley
- Code 662, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - C A Kilbourne
- Code 662, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - F S Porter
- Code 662, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
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Doriese WB, Bandler SR, Chaudhuri S, Dawson CS, Denison EV, Duff SM, Durkin M, FitzGerald CT, Fowler JW, Gard JD, Hilton GC, Irwin KD, Joe YI, Morgan KM, O'Neil GC, Pappas CG, Reintsema CD, Rudman DA, Smith SJ, Stevens RW, Swetz DS, Szypryt P, Ullom JN, Vale LR, Weber JC, Young BA. Optimization of Time- and Code-Division-Multiplexed Readout for Athena X-IFU. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond 2019; 29:10.1109/TASC.2019.2905577. [PMID: 31360051 PMCID: PMC6662226 DOI: 10.1109/tasc.2019.2905577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Readout of a large, spacecraft-based array of superconducting transition-edge sensors (TESs) requires careful management of the layout area and power dissipation of the cryogenic-circuit components. We present three optimizations of our time- (TDM) and code-division-multiplexing (CDM) systems for the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU), a several-thousand-pixel-TES array for the planned Athena-satellite mission. The first optimization is a new readout scheme that is a hybrid of CDM and TDM. This C/TDM architecture balances CDM's noise advantage with TDM's layout compactness. The second is a redesign of a component: the shunt resistor that provides a dc-voltage bias to the TESs. A new layout and a thicker Pd-Au resistive layer combine to reduce this resistor's area by more than a factor of 5. Third, we have studied the power dissipated by the first-stage SQUIDs (superconducting quantum-interference devices) and the readout noise versus the critical current of the first-stage SqUIDs. As a result, the X-IFU TDM and C/TDM SQUIDs will have a specified junction critical current of 5 μA. Based on these design optimizations and TDM experiments described by Durkin, et al. (these proceedings), TDM meets all requirements to be X-IFU's backup-readout option. Hybrid C/TDM is another viable option that could save spacecraft resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- W B Doriese
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - S R Bandler
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - S Chaudhuri
- Stanford University Dept. of Physics, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - C S Dawson
- Stanford University Dept. of Physics, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - E V Denison
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - S M Duff
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - M Durkin
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - C T FitzGerald
- Santa Clara University Dept. of Physics, Santa Clara, CA 95053 USA
| | - J W Fowler
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J D Gard
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - G C Hilton
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - K D Irwin
- Stanford University Dept. of Physics, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Y I Joe
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - K M Morgan
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - G C O'Neil
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - C G Pappas
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - C D Reintsema
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - D A Rudman
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - S J Smith
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - R W Stevens
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - D S Swetz
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - P Szypryt
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J N Ullom
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - L R Vale
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J C Weber
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - B A Young
- Stanford University Dept. of Physics, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
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