The Performance of the Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit at Very High Count Rates
Peille P, Dauser T, Kirsch C, Den Hartog R, Cucchetti E, Wilms J, Barret D, Den Herder JW, Piro L (2018)
Publication Status: Published
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2018
Journal
Publisher: SPRINGER/PLENUM PUBLISHERS
Book Volume: 193
Pages Range: 940-948
Journal Issue: 5-6
DOI: 10.1007/s10909-018-1964-6
Abstract
The Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) will operate at 90 mK a hexagonal matrix of 3840 Transition Edge Sensor pixels providing spatially resolved high-resolution spectroscopy (2.5 eV FWHM up to 7 keV) between 0.2 and 12 keV. During the observation of very bright X-ray sources, the X-IFU detectors will receive high photon rates going up to several tens of counts per second per pixel and hundreds per readout channel, well above the normal operating mode of the instrument. In this paper, we investigate through detailed end-to-end simulations the performance achieved by the X-IFU at the highest count rates. Special care is notably taken to model and characterize pulse processing limitations, readout-chain saturation effects, as well as the non-Gaussian degradation of the energy redistribution from crosstalk at the focal plane level (both thermal and electrical). Overall, we show that the instrument performance should safely exceed the scientific requirements, and in particular that more than 50% throughput at 1 Crab in the 5-8 keV band can be achieved with better than 10 eV average resolution with the use of a Beryllium filter, enabling breakthrough science in the field of bright sources.
Authors with CRIS profile
Thomas Dauser
Dr.Karl-Remeis-Sternwarte Bamberg, Astronomisches Institut
Christian Kirsch
Professur für Astronomie und Astrophysik
Jörn Wilms
Professur für Astronomie und Astrophysik
Involved external institutions
National Institute for Astrophysics / Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF)
Italy (IT)
Netherlands Institute for Space Research / Stichting Ruimteonderzoek Nederland (SRON)
Netherlands (NL)
Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées
France (FR)
Centre d’étude spatiale des rayonnements (CESR)
France (FR)
Italy (IT)
Netherlands Institute for Space Research / Stichting Ruimteonderzoek Nederland (SRON)
Netherlands (NL)
Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées
France (FR)
Centre d’étude spatiale des rayonnements (CESR)
France (FR)
How to cite
APA:
Peille, P., Dauser, T., Kirsch, C., Den Hartog, R., Cucchetti, E., Wilms, J.,... Piro, L. (2018). The Performance of the Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit at Very High Count Rates. Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 193(5-6), 940-948. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10909-018-1964-6
MLA:
Peille, Philippe, et al. "The Performance of the Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit at Very High Count Rates." Journal of Low Temperature Physics 193.5-6 (2018): 940-948.
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