0000000000374716
AUTHOR
Luca Bombelli
The IXO Wide-Field Imager
The Wide Field Imager (WFI) of the International X-ray Observatory (IXO) is an X-ray imaging spectrometer based on a large monolithic DePFET (Depleted P-channel Field Effect Transistor) Active Pixel Sensor. Filling an area of 10 × 10 cm² with a format of 1024 × 1024 pixels it will cover a field of view of 18 arcmin. The pixel size of 100 × 100 μm² corresponds to a fivefold oversampling of the telescope's expected 5 arcsec point spread function. The WFI's basic DePFET structure combines the functionalities of sensor and integrated amplifier with nearly Fano-limited energy resolution and high efficiency from 100 eV to 15 keV. The development of dedicated control and amplifier ASICs allows for…
The Wide Field Imager of the International X-ray Observatory
The International X-ray Observatory (IXO) will be a joint X-ray observatory mission by ESA, NASA and JAXA. It will have a large effective area (3 m 2 at 1.25 keV) grazing incidence mirror system with good angular resolution (5 arcsec at 0.1–10 keV) and will feature a comprehensive suite of scientific instruments: an X-ray Microcalorimeter Spectrometer, a High Time Resolution Spectrometer, an X-ray Polarimeter, an X-ray Grating Spectrometer, a Hard X-ray Imager and a Wide-Field Imager. The Wide Field Imager (WFI) has a field-of-view of 18 ft � 18 ft. It will be sensitive between 0.1 and 15 keV, offer the full angular resolution of the mirrors and good energy resolution. The WFI will be imple…
The wide field imager for the International X-ray Observatory
The large collecting area of the X-ray optics on the International X-ray Observatory (IXO), their good angular resolution, the wide bandwidth of X-ray energies and the high radiation tolerance required for the X-ray detectors in the focal plane have stimulated a new development of devices which unify all those science driven specifications in one single detector. The concept of a monolithic, back-illuminated silicon active pixel sensor (APS) based on the DEPFET structure is proposed for the IXO mission, being a fully depleted, back-illuminated 450 μm thick detector with a physical size of about 10 × 10 cm 2 corresponding to the 18 arcmin field of view. The backside will be covered with an i…
The wide-field imager for IXO: status and future activities
The Wide Field Imager (WFI) of the International X-ray Observatory (IXO) is an X-ray imaging spectrometer based on a large monolithic DePFET (Depleted P-channel Field Effect Transistor) Active Pixel Sensor. Filling an area of 10 x 10 cm2 with a format of 1024 x 1024 pixels it will cover a field of view of 18 arcmin. The pixel size of 100 x 100 μm2 corresponds to a fivefold oversampling of the telescope's expected 5 arcsec point spread function. The WFI's basic DePFET structure combines the functionalities of sensor and integrated amplifier with nearly Fano-limited energy resolution and high efficiency from 100 eV to 15 keV. The development of dedicated control and amplifier ASICs allows for…