Search results for " X-IFU"
showing 5 items of 5 documents
Thermal Filters for the ATHENA X-IFU: Ongoing Activities Toward the Conceptual Design
2016
ATHENA is the L2 mission selected by ESA to pursue the science theme “Hot and Energetic Universe.” One of the two focal plane instruments is the X-ray Integral Field Unit, an array of TES microcalorimeters operated at T $$<$$ 100 mK. To allow the X-ray photons focused by the telescope to reach the detector, windows have to be opened on the cryostat thermal shields. X-ray transparent filters need to be mounted on these open windows to attenuate the IR radiation from warm surfaces, to attenuate RF electromagnetic interferences on TES sensors and SQUID electronics, and to protect the detector from contamination. This paper reviews the ongoing activities driving the design of the X-IFU thermal …
Deformation analysis of ATHENA test filters made of plastic thin films supported by a mesh under differential static pressure
2019
Within ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Science Program, ATHENA was selected to be a Large-class high energy astrophysics space mission. The observatory will be equipped with two interchangeable focal plane detectors named X-Ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) and Wide Field Imager (WFI). In order to optimally exploit the detector sensitivity, X-ray transparent filters are required. Such filters need to be extremely thin to maximize the X-ray transparency, that is, no more than a few tens of nm, still they must be able to sustain the severe stresses experienced during launch. Partially representative test filters were made with a thin polypropylene film, coated with Ti, and supported by a thin highl…
Baseline design of the thermal blocking filters for the X-IFU detector on board ATHENA
2014
ATHENA is an advanced X-ray observatory designed by a large European consortium to address the science theme "Hot and Energetic Universe" recently selected by ESA for L2 – the second Large-class mission within the Cosmic Vision science program (launch scheduled in 2028). One of the key instruments of the mission is the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU), an array of Transition Edge Sensor (TES) micro-calorimeters with high energy resolution (2.5 eV @ 6 keV) in the energy range 0.2÷12 keV, operating at the focal plane of a large effective area high angular resolution (5" HEW) grazing incidence X-ray telescope. The X-IFU operates at temperatures below 100 mK and thus requires a sophisticated c…
The Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit: a consolidated design for the system requirement review of the preliminary definition phase
2023
The Athena X-ray Integral Unit (X-IFU) is the high resolution X-ray spectrometer, studied since 2015 for flying in the mid-30s on the Athena space X-ray Observatory, a versatile observatory designed to address the Hot and Energetic Universe science theme, selected in November 2013 by the Survey Science Committee. Based on a large format array of Transition Edge Sensors (TES), it aims to provide spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopy, with a spectral resolution of 2.5 eV (up to 7 keV) over an hexagonal field of view of 5 arc minutes (equivalent diameter). The X-IFU entered its System Requirement Review (SRR) in June 2022, at about the same time when ESA called for an overall X-IFU redesign (i…
The focal plane assembly for the Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit instrument
2016
This paper summarizes a preliminary design concept for the focal plane assembly of the X-ray Integral Field Unit on the Athena spacecraft, an imaging microcalorimeter that will enable high spectral resolution imaging and point-source spectroscopy. The instrument's sensor array will be a ~ 3840-pixel transition edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeter array, with a frequency domain multiplexed SQUID readout system allowing this large-format sensor array to be operated within the thermal constraints of the instrument's cryogenic system. A second TES detector will be operated in close proximity to the sensor array to detect cosmic rays and secondary particles passing through the sensor array for off…