Ground calibration of the Astro-H (Hitomi) soft x-ray spectrometer

Megan E. Eckart; Joseph S. Adams; Kevin R. Boyce; Gregory V. Brown; Meng P. Chiao; Ryuichi Fujimoto; Daniel A. Haas; Jan-Willem A. den Herder; Akio Hoshino; Yoshitaka Ishisaki; Caroline A. Kilbourne; Shunji Kitamoto; Maurice A. Leutenegger; Daniel McCammon; Kazuhisa Mitsuda; F. Scott Porter; Kosuke Sato; Makoto Sawada; Hiromi Seta; Gary A. Sneiderman; Andrew E. Szymkowiak; Yoh Takei; Makoto S. Tashiro; Masahiro Tsujimoto; Cor P. de Vries; Tomomi Watanabe; Shinya Yamada; Noriko Y. Yamasaki

doi:10.1117/1.JATIS.4.2.021406

13 April 2018 Ground calibration of the Astro-H (Hitomi) soft x-ray spectrometer

Megan E. Eckart, Joseph S. Adams, Kevin R. Boyce, Gregory V. Brown, Meng P. Chiao, Ryuichi Fujimoto, Daniel A. Haas, Jan-Willem A. den Herder, Akio Hoshino, Yoshitaka Ishisaki, Caroline A. Kilbourne, Shunji Kitamoto, Maurice A. Leutenegger, Daniel McCammon, Kazuhisa Mitsuda, F. Scott Porter, Kosuke Sato, Makoto Sawada, Hiromi Seta, Gary A. Sneiderman, Andrew E. Szymkowiak, Yoh Takei, Makoto S. Tashiro, Masahiro Tsujimoto, Cor P. de Vries, Tomomi Watanabe, Shinya Yamada, Noriko Y. Yamasaki

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Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, Vol. 4, Issue 2, 021406 (April 2018). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.4.2.021406

Abstract

The Astro-H (Hitomi) Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) was a pioneering imaging x-ray spectrometer with 5 eV energy resolution at 6 keV. The instrument used a microcalorimeter array at the focus of a high-throughput soft x-ray telescope to enable high-resolution nondispersive spectroscopy in the soft x-ray waveband (0.3 to 12 keV). We present the suite of ground calibration measurements acquired from 2012 to 2015, including characterization of the detector system, anti-coincidence detector, optical blocking filters, and filter-wheel filters. The calibration of the 36-pixel silicon thermistor microcalorimeter array includes parameterizations of the energy gain scale and line-spread function for each event grade over a range of instrument operating conditions, as well as quantum efficiency measurements. The x-ray transmission of the set of five Al/polyimide thin-film optical blocking filters mounted inside the SXS dewar has been modeled based on measurements at synchrotron beamlines, including with high spectral resolution at the C, N, O, and Al K-edges. In addition, we present the x-ray transmission of the dewar gate valve and of the filters mounted on the SXS filter wheel (external to the dewar), including beryllium, polyimide, and neutral density filters.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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Megan E. Eckart, Joseph S. Adams, Kevin R. Boyce, Gregory V. Brown, Meng P. Chiao, Ryuichi Fujimoto, Daniel A. Haas, Jan-Willem A. den Herder, Akio Hoshino, Yoshitaka Ishisaki, Caroline A. Kilbourne, Shunji Kitamoto, Maurice A. Leutenegger, Daniel McCammon, Kazuhisa Mitsuda, F. Scott Porter, Kosuke Sato, Makoto Sawada, Hiromi Seta, Gary A. Sneiderman, Andrew E. Szymkowiak, Yoh Takei, Makoto S. Tashiro, Masahiro Tsujimoto, Cor P. de Vries, Tomomi Watanabe, Shinya Yamada, and Noriko Y. Yamasaki "Ground calibration of the Astro-H (Hitomi) soft x-ray spectrometer," Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 4(2), 021406 (13 April 2018). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.4.2.021406

Received: 15 August 2017; Accepted: 22 February 2018; Published: 13 April 2018

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