Laboratory astrophysics using a spare XRS microcalorimeter

Frederick Scott Porter; Michael Damian Audley; Peter Beiersdorfer; Kevin R. Boyce; Regis P. Brekosky; Gregory V. Brown; Keith C. Gendreau; John D. Gygax; Steven M. Kahn; Richard L. Kelley; Caroline Kilbourn Stahle; Andrew E. Szymkowiak

doi:10.1117/12.409137

13 December 2000 Laboratory astrophysics using a spare XRS microcalorimeter

Frederick Scott Porter, Michael Damian Audley, Peter Beiersdorfer, Kevin R. Boyce, Regis P. Brekosky, Gregory V. Brown, Keith C. Gendreau, John D. Gygax, Steven M. Kahn, Richard L. Kelley, Caroline Kilbourn Stahle, Andrew E. Szymkowiak

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4140, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XI; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.409137
Event: International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology, 2000, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The XRS instrument on Astro-E is a fully self-contained microcalorimeter x-ray instrument capable of acquiring, optimally filtering, and characterizing events for 32 independent pixels. We have recently integrated a full engineering model XRS detector system into a laboratory cryostat for use on the electron beam ion trap (EBIT) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The detector system contains a microcalorimeter array with 32 instrumented pixels heat sunk to 60 mK using an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator. The instrument has a composite resolution of 8 eV at 1 keV and 11 eV at 6 keV with a minimum of 98% quantum efficiency and a total collecting area of 13 mm². This will allow high spectral resolution, broadband observations of plasmas with known ionization states that are produced in the EBIT experiment. Unique to our instrument are exceptionally well characterized 1000 Angstrom thick aluminum on polyimide infrared blocking filters. The detailed transmission function including the edge fine structure of these filters has been measured in our laboratory using a variable spaced grating spectrometer. This will allow the instrument to perform the first broadband absolute flux measurements with the EBIT instrument. The instrument performance as well as the results of preliminary measurements of Fe K and L shell at fixed electron energy, Fe emission with Maxwellian electron distributions, and phase resolved spectroscopy of ionizing plasmas will be discussed.

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Frederick Scott Porter, Michael Damian Audley, Peter Beiersdorfer, Kevin R. Boyce, Regis P. Brekosky, Gregory V. Brown, Keith C. Gendreau, John D. Gygax, Steven M. Kahn, Richard L. Kelley, Caroline Kilbourn Stahle, and Andrew E. Szymkowiak "Laboratory astrophysics using a spare XRS microcalorimeter", Proc. SPIE 4140, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XI, (13 December 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.409137

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