Development of frequency domain multiplexing for the X-ray Integral Field unit (X-IFU) on the Athena

Hiroki Akamatsu; Luciano Gottardi; Jan van der Kuur; Cor P. de Vries; Kevin Ravensberg; Joseph S. Adams; Simon R. Bandler; Marcel P. Bruijn; James A. Chervenak; Caroline A. Kilbourne; Mikko Kiviranta; A. J. van der Linden; Brian D. Jackson; Stephen J. Smith

doi:10.1117/12.2232805

19 July 2016 Development of frequency domain multiplexing for the X-ray Integral Field unit (X-IFU) on the Athena

Hiroki Akamatsu, Luciano Gottardi, Jan van der Kuur, Cor P. de Vries, Kevin Ravensberg, Joseph S. Adams, Simon R. Bandler, Marcel P. Bruijn, James A. Chervenak, Caroline A. Kilbourne, Mikko Kiviranta, A. J. van der Linden, Brian D. Jackson, Stephen J. Smith

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 99055S (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232805
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

We are developing the frequency domain multiplexing (FDM) read-out of transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeters for the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) instrument on board of the future European X-Ray observatory Athena. The X-IFU instrument consists of an array of ~3840 TESs with a high quantum efficiency (>90 %) and spectral resolution ΔE=2.5 eV @ 7 keV (E/ ΔE ~2800). FDM is currently the baseline readout system for the X-IFU instrument. Using high quality factor LC filters and room temperature electronics developed at SRON and low-noise two stage SQUID amplifiers provided by VTT, we have recently demonstrated good performance with the FDM readout of Mo/Au TES calorimeters with Au/Bi absorbers. An integrated noise equivalent power resolution of about 2.0 eV at 1.7 MHz has been demonstrated with a pixel from a new TES array from NASA/Goddard (GSFC-A2). We have achieved X-ray energy resolutions ~2.5 eV at AC bias frequency at 1.7 MHz in the single pixel read-out. We have also demonstrated for the first time an X-ray energy resolution around 3.0 eV in a 6 pixel FDM read-out with TES array (GSFC-A1). In this paper we report on the single pixel performance of these microcalorimeters under MHz AC bias, and further results of the performance of these pixels under FDM.

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Hiroki Akamatsu, Luciano Gottardi, Jan van der Kuur, Cor P. de Vries, Kevin Ravensberg, Joseph S. Adams, Simon R. Bandler, Marcel P. Bruijn, James A. Chervenak, Caroline A. Kilbourne, Mikko Kiviranta, A. J. van der Linden, Brian D. Jackson, and Stephen J. Smith "Development of frequency domain multiplexing for the X-ray Integral Field unit (X-IFU) on the Athena", Proc. SPIE 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 99055S (19 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232805

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