Performance assessment of different pulse reconstruction algorithms for the ATHENA X-ray Integral Field Unit

Peille P, Ceballos MT, Cobo B, Wilms J, Bandler S, Smith SJ, Dauser T, Brand T, Den Hartog R, De Plaa J, Barret D, Den Herder JW, Piro L, Barcons X, Pointecouteau E (2016)

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Conference contribution, Conference Contribution

Publication year: 2016

Publisher: SPIE

Book Volume: 9905

Article Number: 99055W

ISBN: 9781510601895

DOI: 10.1117/12.2232011

Abstract

The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) microcalorimeter, on-board Athena, with its focal plane comprising 3840 Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) operating at 90 mK, will provide unprecedented spectral-imaging capability in the 0.2-12 keV energy range. It will rely on the on-board digital processing of current pulses induced by the heat deposited in the TES absorber, as to recover the energy of each individual events. Assessing the capabilities of the pulse reconstruction is required to understand the overall scientific performance of the X-IFU, notably in terms of energy resolution degradation with both increasing energies and count rates. Using synthetic data streams generated by the X-IFU End-to-End simulator, we present here a comprehensive benchmark of various pulse reconstruction techniques, ranging from standard optimal filtering to more advanced algorithms based on noise covariance matrices. Beside deriving the spectral resolution achieved by the different algorithms, a first assessment of the computing power and ground calibration needs is presented. Overall, all methods show similar performances, with the reconstruction based on noise covariance matrices showing the best improvement with respect to the standard optimal filtering technique. Due to prohibitive calibration needs, this method might however not be applicable to the X-IFU and the best compromise currently appears to be the so-called resistance space analysis which also features very promising high count rate capabilities.

Authors with CRIS profile

Jörn Wilms Professur für Astronomie und Astrophysik Thomas Dauser Dr.Karl-Remeis-Sternwarte Bamberg, Astronomisches Institut Thorsten Brand Professur für Astronomie und Astrophysik

Involved external institutions

National Center for Scientific Research / Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) FR France (FR) Netherlands Institute for Space Research / Stichting Ruimteonderzoek Nederland (SRON) NL Netherlands (NL) National Institute for Astrophysics / Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF) IT Italy (IT) Instituto de Física de Cantabria (IFCA) ES Spain (ES) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) US United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Peille, P., Ceballos, M.T., Cobo, B., Wilms, J., Bandler, S., Smith, S.J.,... Pointecouteau, E. (2016). Performance assessment of different pulse reconstruction algorithms for the ATHENA X-ray Integral Field Unit. In Proceedings of the Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray. SPIE.

MLA:

Peille, Philippe, et al. "Performance assessment of different pulse reconstruction algorithms for the ATHENA X-ray Integral Field Unit." Proceedings of the Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray SPIE, 2016.

BibTeX: Download