Design, implementation, and performance of the Astro-H SXS calorimeter array and anticoincidence detector

Caroline A. Kilbourne; Joseph S. Adams; Regis P. Brekosky; James A. Chervenak; Meng P. Chiao; Megan E. Eckart; Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano; Massimiliano Galeazzi; Christoph Grein; Christine A. Jhabvala; Daniel Kelly; Maurice A. Leutenegger; Daniel McCammon; F. Scott Porter; Andrew E. Szymkowiak; Tomomi Watanabe; Jun Zhao

doi:10.1117/1.JATIS.4.1.011214

23 February 2018 Design, implementation, and performance of the Astro-H SXS calorimeter array and anticoincidence detector

Caroline A. Kilbourne, Joseph S. Adams, Regis P. Brekosky, James A. Chervenak, Meng P. Chiao, Megan E. Eckart, Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano, Massimiliano Galeazzi, Christoph Grein, Christine A. Jhabvala, Daniel Kelly, Maurice A. Leutenegger, Daniel McCammon, F. Scott Porter, Andrew E. Szymkowiak, Tomomi Watanabe, Jun Zhao

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Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, Vol. 4, Issue 1, 011214 (February 2018). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.4.1.011214

Abstract

The calorimeter array of the JAXA Astro-H (renamed Hitomi) soft x-ray spectrometer (SXS) was designed to provide unprecedented spectral resolution of spatially extended cosmic x-ray sources and of all cosmic x-ray sources in the Fe-K band around 6 keV, enabling essential plasma diagnostics. The SXS had a square array of 36 x-ray calorimeters at the focal plane. These calorimeters consisted of ion-implanted silicon thermistors and HgTe thermalizing x-ray absorbers. These devices demonstrated a resolution of better than 4.5 eV at 6 keV when operated at a heat-sink temperature of 50 mK. We will discuss the basic physical parameters of this array, including the array layout, thermal conductance of the link to the heat sink, resistance function, absorber details, and means of attaching the absorber to the thermistor-bearing element. We will also present the thermal characterization of the whole array, including thermal conductance and crosstalk measurements and the results of pulsing the frame temperature via alpha particles, heat pulses, and the environmental background. A silicon ionization detector was located behind the calorimeter array and served to reject events due to cosmic rays. We will briefly describe this anticoincidence detector and its performance.

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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Caroline A. Kilbourne, Joseph S. Adams, Regis P. Brekosky, James A. Chervenak, Meng P. Chiao, Megan E. Eckart, Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano, Massimiliano Galeazzi, Christoph Grein, Christine A. Jhabvala, Daniel Kelly, Maurice A. Leutenegger, Daniel McCammon, F. Scott Porter, Andrew E. Szymkowiak, Tomomi Watanabe, and Jun Zhao "Design, implementation, and performance of the Astro-H SXS calorimeter array and anticoincidence detector," Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 4(1), 011214 (23 February 2018). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.4.1.011214

Received: 15 August 2017; Accepted: 19 January 2018; Published: 23 February 2018

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