Search results for " microcalorimeters"
showing 8 items of 8 documents
Fabrication of Bismuth Absorber Arrays for NTD-Ge Hard X-ray Microcalorimeters
2020
The high-spectral-resolution detection of hard X-rays (E > 20 keV) is a challenging and nearly unexplored area in space astrophysics. Traditionally hard X-ray detectors present moderate spectral resolutions, although few tens of eV one could open new frontiers in the study of nuclear processes and high-temperature plasma dynamics in energetic processes. This can be achieved by using cryogenic microcalorimeters. Within a research activity aimed at developing arrays of neutron transmutation-doped germanium (NTD-Ge) microcalorimeters for the high-spectral-resolution detection (about 50 eV@60 keV) of hard X-rays (20 keV < E<100 keV), we developed an electroplating process to fabricate …
Study of Microcalorimeters for Astrophysics Applications
2008
In the framework of the Italian Space Agency R&D project, which is focused on the development of microcalorimeters for applications on astrophysics, we are studying different methods for TES microcalorimeter production and developing simulations of various absorber performances. In this paper are presented preliminary results obtained with two different geometries: front back and planar on SiN membrane.
Development of a TES based Cryo-Anticoincidence for a large array of microcalorimeters
2009
The employment of large arrays of microcalorimeters in space missions (IXO, EDGE/XENIA)[1][2][3], requires the presence of an anticoincidence detector to remove the background due to the particles, with a rejection efficiency at least equal to Suzaku (98%) [1]. A new concept of anticoincidence is under development to match the very tight thermal requirements and to simplify the design of the electronic chain. The idea is to produce a Cryo-AntiCoincidence (Cryo-AC) based on a silicon absorber and read by a TES (Transition-Edge Sensor). This configuration would ensure very good performances in terms of efficiency, time response and signal to noise ratio. We present the results of estimations,…
Test of x-ray microcalorimeters with bilayer absorbers
2008
Superconducting absorbers for thermal X-ray microcalorimeters should convert into thermalized phonons and transfer to the thermal sensor most of the energy deposited by single photons, on a time scale as short as a few tens of microseconds. Since deposition of X-ray energy in a superconductor produces quasiparticles by breaking up of Cooper pairs, the thermalization efficiency depends on the time scale on which they survive within the absorber volume, trapping part of the absorbed energy. According to the predicted values of their microscopic parameters, in many standard type-I superconducting metals the quasiparticle life time at very low temperatures results too long to allow for recombin…
A microcalorimeter spectrometer for the investigation of laboratory plasmas
2002
We describe a cryostat and 2-stage ADR specifically designed for making measurements at the NIST EBIT (Electron Beam Ion Trap) facility. The design is compact and consists of a single helium bath with two vapor-cooled shields. The 2-stage ADR has two separate magnets and two heat switches. The interface between the EBIT and microcalorimeter array will also be described.
A single stage adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator for testing x-ray microcalorimeters
2004
A single stage Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator (ADR), has been set-up at the X-ray Astronomy Calibration and Testing (XACT) facility of INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo G.S. Vaiana, for the development and testing of cryogenic X-ray detectors for laboratory and astrophysical applications. The ADR allows to cool detectors at temperatures below 40 mK and to maintain them at constant operating temperature for many hours. We describe the design and construction of the ADR and present test results and performances.
CESAR: Cryogenic Electronics for Space Applications
2013
Ultra-low temperature sensors provide unprecedented performances in X-ray and far infrared astronomy by taking advantage of physical properties of matter close to absolute zero. CESAR is an FP7 funded project started in December 2010, that gathers six European laboratories around the development of high performances cryogenic electronics. The goal of the project is to provide far-IR, X-ray and magnetic sensors with signal-processing capabilities at the heart of the detectors. We present the major steps that constitute the CESAR work, and the main results achieved so far.
Experimental evidence of an incomplete thermalization of the energy in an x-ray microcalorimeter with a TaAu absorber.
2008
We have conducted an experimental test at our XACT facility using an x-ray microcalorimeter with Ta∕Au absorber and neutron transmutation doped germanium thermal sensor. The test was aimed at measuring the percentage of energy effectively thermalized after absorption of x-ray photons in superconducting tantalum. Moreover, in general, possible formation of long living quasiparticles implies that by using a superconducting absorber, a fraction of the deposited energy could not be thermalized on the useful time scale of the thermal sensor. To investigate this scenario, we exploited an absorber made of gold, where no energy trapping is expected, with a small piece of superconducting tantalum at…