0000000000374723
AUTHOR
Lothar Strüder
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 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…
XMM-Newton First-Light Observations of the Hickson Galaxy Group 16
This paper presents the XMM-Newton first-light observations of the Hickson-16 compact group of galaxies. Groups are possibly the oldest large-scale structures in the Universe, pre-dating clusters of galaxies, and are highly evolved. This group of small galaxies, at a redshift of 0.0132 (or 80 Mpc) is exceptional in the having the highest concentration of starburst or AGN activity in the nearby Universe. So it is a veritable laboratory for the study of the relationship between galaxy interactions and nuclear activity. Previous optical emission line studies indicated a strong ionising continuum in the galaxies, but its origin, whether from starbursts, or AGN, was unclear. Combined imaging and…
Experience with the ALEPH silicon vertex detector
Abstract The ALEPH experiment [1] at LEP is equipped with a vertex detector [2] using two layers of double-sided silicon strip detectors. These detectors allow a real two-dimensional measurement of charged particle tracks. The present (1991) detector has the inner layer at a radius of 6.5 cm and the outer layer at 11.5 cm. The theta angle coverage is ±33° for the inner layer and ±50° for the outer layer. The inner layer is made out of 9 faces with four silicon detectors each, the outer layer has 15 such faces. We use silicon detectors of 5 × 5 cm 2 and 300 μm thickness. The readout pitch is 100 μm at both sides and using capacitive charge division a resolution in the order of 10 μm can be a…
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…
Background Simulations of the Wide Field Imager of the ATHENA X-Ray Observatory
The ATHENA X-ray Observatory-IXO is a planned multinational orbiting X-ray observatory with a focal length of 11.5m. ATHENA aims to perform pointed observations in an energy range from 0.1 keV to 15 keV with high sensitivity. For high spatial and timing resolution imaging and spectroscopic observations the 640x640 pixel^2 large DePFET-technology based Wide field Imager (WFI) focal plane detector, providing a field of view of 18 arcsec will be the main detector. Based on the actual mechanics, thermal and shielding design we present estimates for the WFI cosmic ray induced background obtained by the use of Monte-Carlo simulations and possible background reduction measures.
DEPFET based Instrumentation for the MIXS focal plane on BepiColombo
BepiColombo, ESA's fifth cornerstone mission, is a planetary exploration mission to Mercury. On board of BepiColombo's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), the MIXS instrument will perform a complete X-ray fluorescence analysis of Mercury's crust with unprecedented spectral and spatial resolution. This is achieved by using a lightweight X-ray mirror system and by using of DEPFET based Macropixel devices as X-ray detectors. DEPFET based Macropixel detectors combine the advantages of the DEPFETs, like flexible readout modes, Fano-limited energy resolution and low power consumption, with the properties of the drift detectors, like arbitrary scalable pixel size and geometry. In addition, the excell…
Operational experience with a large detector system using silicon strip detectors with double sided readout
Abstract A large system of silicon strip detectors with double sided readout has been successfully commissioned over the course of the last year at the e + e − collider LEP. The readout of this 73 728 channel system is performed with custom designed VLSI charge sensitive amplifier chips (CAMEX64A). An overall point resolution of 12 μm on both sides has been acheived for the complete system. The most important difficulties during the run were beam losses into the detector, and a chemical agent deposited onto the electronics; however, the damage from these sources was understood and brought under control. This and other results of the 1991 data-taking run are described with special emphasis o…
The DEPFET based Focal Plane Detectors for MIXS on BepiColombo
X-ray detectors based on arrays of DEPFET macropixels, which consist of a silicon drift detector combined with a detector/amplifier structure DEPFET as readout node, provide a convenient and flexible way to adapt the pixel size of a focal plane detector to the resolving power of any given X-ray optical system. Macropixels combine the traditional benefits of an SDD, like scalability, arbitrary geometry and excellent QE even in the low energy range, with the advantages of DEPFET structures: Charge storage capability, near Fano-limited energy resolution, low power consumption and high speed readout. Being part of the scientific payload of ESA's BepiColombo mission, the MIXS instrument will be …
First results from electrical qualification measurements on DEPFET pixel detector
We report on the first results from a new setup for electrical qualification measurements of DEPFET pixel detector matrices. In order to measure the transistor properties of all pixels, the DEPFET device is placed into a benchtest setup and electrically contacted via a probecard. Using a switch matrix, each pixel of the detector array can be addressed individually for characterization. These measurements facilitate to pre-select the best DEPFET matrices as detector device prior to the mounting of the matrix and allow to investigate topics like the homogeneity of transistor parameters on device, wafer and batch level in order to learn about the stability and reproducibility of the production…