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Next generation of pnCCDs for X-ray spectroscopy and imaging
Meidinger, Norbert; Strüder, Lothar; Herrmann, Sven +10 more
A special type of charge-coupled device, the pnCCD, has been developed in the nineties as focal-plane detector for the X-ray astronomy mission XMM-Newton of the European Space Agency. The pnCCD detector has been in operation since the satellite launch in 1999. It is performing up to date spectroscopy of X-rays in combination with imaging and high …
Analysis of the Suzaku/XRS background
Ishisaki, Y.; Mitsuda, K.; Boyce, K. R. +14 more
Background counts on the XRS calorimeter spectrometer of the Suzaku Observatory (formerly Astro-E2) have several sources, including primary cosmic rays and secondary particles interacting with the pixels and with the silicon structure of the array. Using ground data, we identified the types of correlations between events on different pixels, and b…
Neon dewar for the X-ray spectrometer onboard Suzaku
Mitsuda, K.; Kelley, R. L.; Fujimoto, R. +6 more
The X-ray spectrometer (XRS) onboard Suzaku is the first X-ray microcalorimeter array in orbit. The sensor array is operated at 60 mK, which is attained by an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator and superfluid liquid helium. The neon dewar is a vacuum-insulated container for the XRS. The requirements for the XRS dewar are to maintain the detect…
The Astro-E2/XRS-2 helium insert system
Mitsuda, K.; Fujimoto, R.; McCammon, D. +5 more
The X-ray Spectrometer (XRS-2) instrument on the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) Astro-E2 spacecraft will measure faint X-ray emissions in the energy range of 0.2-10 keV. A square array of 32 X-ray microcalorimeters used will be able to distinguish individual photons to better than 10 eV at 6 keV, with a quantum efficiency near 100%. The detectors ar…
X-ray microcalorimeters for Astro-E2 and high-energy astrophysics
Kelley, Richard L.
The Japan/US Suzaku (formerly Astro-E2) astrophysics mission has been successfully launched. Suzaku is a powerful new orbiting observatory for studying extremely energetic processes in the universe. Sensitive X-ray spectrometers have been designed to enable precise measurements of high-energy processes in stars, supernova remnants, galaxies, clust…
Laboratory astrophysics and atomic physics using the NASA/GSFC microcalorimeter spectrometers at the LLNL electron beam ion trap and radiation properties facility
Boyce, K. R.; Kilbourne, C. A.; Porter, F. S. +10 more
The 32 pixel laboratory microcalorimeter spectrometer built by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is now an integral part of the spectroscopy suite used routinely by the electron beam ion trap and radiative properties group at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The second generation laboratory instrument, dubbed the XRS/EBIT, is …
Ground calibration of the XRS microcalorimeter onboard Suzaku
Ishisaki, Y.; Mitsuda, K.; Boyce, K. R. +13 more
The XRS microcalorimeter was launched in July 2005 as part of the Suzaku mission. It covers the energy band from 0.3 to 10 keV with a nearly constant energy resolution of 6 eV and a peak effective area of 200 cm 2 at 1.5 keV. The XRS will provide unprecedented throughput and resolving power, particularly at high energies and for extende…
Performance verification of the Suzaku X-ray Spectrometer in the flight configuration
Ishisaki, Y.; Mitsuda, K.; Boyce, K. R. +12 more
The X-ray Spectrometer (XRS) is a high resolution, non-dispersive cryogenic detector on board the X-ray satellite, Suzaku (Astro-E2), which was successfully launched on July 10, 2005. The XRS achieves an energy resolution of 6 eV at 6 keV (FWHM) and covers a broad energy range of ∼0.07 10 keV. The XRS will enable powerful plasma diagnostics of a v…
Background radiation effects and hazards in planetary instrumentation
Butcher, Gillian; Sims, Mark R.; Fraser, George +3 more
Recent and proposed future planetary missions are becoming increasingly concerned with detailed geochemical assessment, often in a bid to ascertain the presence of water and life supporting geochemical systems. The instruments involved may use some kind of radioactive source, e.g. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, Mössbauer spectrometry, neutron sc…