The ATHENA X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU)

Didier Barret; Thien Lam Trong; Jan-Willem den Herder; Luigi Piro; Massimo Cappi; Juhani Houvelin; Richard Kelley; J. Miguel Mas-Hesse; Kazuhisa Mitsuda; Stéphane Paltani; Gregor Rauw; Agata Rozanska; Joern Wilms; Simon Bandler; Marco Barbera; Xavier Barcons; Enrico Bozzo; Maria Teresa Ceballos; Ivan Charles; Elisa Costantini; Anne Decourchelle; Roland den Hartog; Lionel Duband; Jean-Marc Duval; Fabrizio Fiore; Flavio Gatti; Andrea Goldwurm; Brian Jackson; Peter Jonker; Caroline Kilbourne; Claudio Macculi; Mariano Mendez; Silvano Molendi; Piotr Orleanski; François Pajot; Etienne Pointecouteau; Frederick Porter; Gabriel W. Pratt; Damien Prêle; Laurent Ravera; Kosuke Sato; Joop Schaye; Keisuke Shinozaki; Tanguy Thibert; Luca Valenziano; Véronique Valette; Jacco Vink; Natalie Webb; Michael Wise; Noriko Yamasaki; Françoise Douchin; Jean-Michel Mesnager; Bernard Pontet; Alice Pradines; Graziella Branduardi-Raymont; Esra Bulbul; Mauro Dadina; Stefano Ettori; Alexis Finoguenov; Yasushi Fukazawa; Agnieszka Janiuk; Jelle Kaastra; Pasquale Mazzotta; Jon Miller; Giovanni Miniutti; Yael Naze; Fabrizio Nicastro; Salavtore Scioritino; Aurora Simonescu; Jose Miguel Torrejon; Benoit Frezouls; Hervé Geoffray; Philippe Peille; Corinne Aicardi; Jérôme André; Christophe Daniel; Antoine Clénet; Christophe Etcheverry; Emilie Gloaguen; Gilles Hervet; Antoine Jolly; Aurélien Ledot; Irwin Paillet; Roseline Schmisser; Bruno Vella; Jean-Charles Damery; Kevin Boyce; Mike Dipirro; Simone Lotti; Denis Schwander; Stephen Smith; Bert-Joost Van Leeuwen; Henk van Weers; Nicolas Clerc; Beatriz Cobo; Thomas Dauser; Christian Kirsch; Edoardo Cucchetti; Megan Eckart; Philippe Ferrando; Lorenzo Natalucci

doi:10.1117/12.2312409

31 July 2018 The ATHENA X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU)

Didier Barret, Thien Lam Trong, Jan-Willem den Herder, Luigi Piro, Massimo Cappi, Juhani Houvelin, Richard Kelley, J. Miguel Mas-Hesse, Kazuhisa Mitsuda, Stéphane Paltani, Gregor Rauw, Agata Rozanska, Joern Wilms, Simon Bandler, Marco Barbera, Xavier Barcons, Enrico Bozzo, Maria Teresa Ceballos, Ivan Charles, Elisa Costantini, Anne Decourchelle, Roland den Hartog, Lionel Duband, Jean-Marc Duval, Fabrizio Fiore, Flavio Gatti, Andrea Goldwurm, Brian Jackson, Peter Jonker, Caroline Kilbourne, Claudio Macculi, Mariano Mendez, Silvano Molendi, Piotr Orleanski, François Pajot, Etienne Pointecouteau, Frederick Porter, Gabriel W. Pratt, Damien Prêle, Laurent Ravera, Kosuke Sato, Joop Schaye, Keisuke Shinozaki, Tanguy Thibert, Luca Valenziano, Véronique Valette, Jacco Vink, Natalie Webb, Michael Wise, Noriko Yamasaki, Françoise Douchin, Jean-Michel Mesnager, Bernard Pontet, Alice Pradines, Graziella Branduardi-Raymont, Esra Bulbul, Mauro Dadina, Stefano Ettori, Alexis Finoguenov, Yasushi Fukazawa, Agnieszka Janiuk, Jelle Kaastra, Pasquale Mazzotta, Jon Miller, Giovanni Miniutti, Yael Naze, Fabrizio Nicastro, Salavtore Scioritino, Aurora Simonescu, Jose Miguel Torrejon, Benoit Frezouls, Hervé Geoffray, Philippe Peille, Corinne Aicardi, Jérôme André, Christophe Daniel, Antoine Clénet, Christophe Etcheverry, Emilie Gloaguen, Gilles Hervet, Antoine Jolly, Aurélien Ledot, Irwin Paillet, Roseline Schmisser, Bruno Vella, Jean-Charles Damery, Kevin Boyce, Mike Dipirro, Simone Lotti, Denis Schwander, Stephen Smith, Bert-Joost Van Leeuwen, Henk van Weers, Nicolas Clerc, Beatriz Cobo, Thomas Dauser, Christian Kirsch, Edoardo Cucchetti, Megan Eckart, Philippe Ferrando, Lorenzo Natalucci

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10699, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 106991G (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312409
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, Texas, United States

Abstract

The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) is the high resolution X-ray spectrometer of the ESA Athena X-ray observatory. Over a field of view of 5’ equivalent diameter, it will deliver X-ray spectra from 0.2 to 12 keV with a spectral resolution of 2.5 eV up to 7 keV on ∼ 5” pixels. The X-IFU is based on a large format array of super-conducting molybdenum-gold Transition Edge Sensors cooled at ∼ 90 mK, each coupled with an absorber made of gold and bismuth with a pitch of 249 μm. A cryogenic anti-coincidence detector located underneath the prime TES array enables the non X-ray background to be reduced. A bath temperature of ∼ 50 mK is obtained by a series of mechanical coolers combining 15K Pulse Tubes, 4K and 2K Joule-Thomson coolers which pre-cool a sub Kelvin cooler made of a 3He sorption cooler coupled with an Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator. Frequency domain multiplexing enables to read out 40 pixels in one single channel. A photon interacting with an absorber leads to a current pulse, amplified by the readout electronics and whose shape is reconstructed on board to recover its energy with high accuracy. The defocusing capability offered by the Athena movable mirror assembly enables the X-IFU to observe the brightest X-ray sources of the sky (up to Crab-like intensities) by spreading the telescope point spread function over hundreds of pixels. Thus the X-IFU delivers low pile-up, high throughput (< 50%), and typically 10 eV spectral resolution at 1 Crab intensities, i.e. a factor of 10 or more better than Silicon based X-ray detectors. In this paper, the current X-IFU baseline is presented, together with an assessment of its anticipated performance in terms of spectral resolution, background, and count rate capability. The X-IFU baseline configuration will be subject to a preliminary requirement review that is scheduled at the end of 2018.

Conference Presentation

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Didier Barret, Thien Lam Trong, Jan-Willem den Herder, Luigi Piro, Massimo Cappi, Juhani Houvelin, Richard Kelley, J. Miguel Mas-Hesse, Kazuhisa Mitsuda, Stéphane Paltani, Gregor Rauw, Agata Rozanska, Joern Wilms, Simon Bandler, Marco Barbera, Xavier Barcons, Enrico Bozzo, Maria Teresa Ceballos, Ivan Charles, Elisa Costantini, Anne Decourchelle, Roland den Hartog, Lionel Duband, Jean-Marc Duval, Fabrizio Fiore, Flavio Gatti, Andrea Goldwurm, Brian Jackson, Peter Jonker, Caroline Kilbourne, Claudio Macculi, Mariano Mendez, Silvano Molendi, Piotr Orleanski, François Pajot, Etienne Pointecouteau, Frederick Porter, Gabriel W. Pratt, Damien Prêle, Laurent Ravera, Kosuke Sato, Joop Schaye, Keisuke Shinozaki, Tanguy Thibert, Luca Valenziano, Véronique Valette, Jacco Vink, Natalie Webb, Michael Wise, Noriko Yamasaki, Françoise Douchin, Jean-Michel Mesnager, Bernard Pontet, Alice Pradines, Graziella Branduardi-Raymont, Esra Bulbul, Mauro Dadina, Stefano Ettori, Alexis Finoguenov, Yasushi Fukazawa, Agnieszka Janiuk, Jelle Kaastra, Pasquale Mazzotta, Jon Miller, Giovanni Miniutti, Yael Naze, Fabrizio Nicastro, Salavtore Scioritino, Aurora Simonescu, Jose Miguel Torrejon, Benoit Frezouls, Hervé Geoffray, Philippe Peille, Corinne Aicardi, Jérôme André, Christophe Daniel, Antoine Clénet, Christophe Etcheverry, Emilie Gloaguen, Gilles Hervet, Antoine Jolly, Aurélien Ledot, Irwin Paillet, Roseline Schmisser, Bruno Vella, Jean-Charles Damery, Kevin Boyce, Mike Dipirro, Simone Lotti, Denis Schwander, Stephen Smith, Bert-Joost Van Leeuwen, Henk van Weers, Nicolas Clerc, Beatriz Cobo, Thomas Dauser, Christian Kirsch, Edoardo Cucchetti, Megan Eckart, Philippe Ferrando, and Lorenzo Natalucci "The ATHENA X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU)", Proc. SPIE 10699, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 106991G (31 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312409

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