High Count-Rate Studies of Small-Pitch Transition-Edge Sensor X-ray Microcalorimeters

Lee, Sang Jun; Bandler, S. R.; Busch, S. E.; Adams, J. S.; Chervenak, James A.; Eckart, Megan E.; Ewin, Audrey J.; Finkbeiner, F. M.; Kelley, R. L.; Kilbourne, C. A.; Porst, Jan‐Patrick; Porter, F. S.; Sadleir, J. E.; Smith, S. J.; Wassel, E. J.

doi:10.1007/s10909-013-1071-7

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…(4)). Nonetheless, a variety of work 106,113 suggests that the thermal 1/e recovery times of future sensors will be near or even below 100 µs, rather than hundreds of microseconds as is common now. These faster recovery times are compatible with per-pixel count rates near 1000 cps.…”

Section: Faster Detectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A practical superconducting-microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometer for beamline and laboratory science

Doriese

Abbamonte

Alpert

et al. 2017

Review of Scientific Instruments

120

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We describe a series of microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometers designed for a broad suite of measurement applications. The chief advantage of this type of spectrometer is that it can be orders of magnitude more efficient at collecting X-rays than more traditional high-resolution spectrometers that rely on wavelength-dispersive techniques. This advantage is most useful in applications that are traditionally photon-starved and/or involve radiation-sensitive samples. Each energy-dispersive spectrometer is built around an array of several hundred transition-edge sensors (TESs). TESs are superconducting thin films that are biased into their superconducting-to-normal-metal transitions. The spectrometers share a common readout architecture and many design elements, such as a compact, 65 mK detector package, 8-column time-division-multiplexed superconducting quantum-interference device readout, and a liquid-cryogen-free cryogenic system that is a two-stage adiabatic-demagnetization refrigerator backed by a pulse-tube cryocooler. We have adapted this flexible architecture to mate to a variety of sample chambers and measurement systems that encompass a range of observing geometries. There are two different types of TES pixels employed. The first, designed for X-ray energies below 10 keV, has a best demonstrated energy resolution of 2.1 eV (full-width-at-half-maximum or FWHM) at 5.9 keV. The second, designed for X-ray energies below 2 keV, has a best demonstrated resolution of 1.0 eV (FWHM) at 500 eV. Our team has now deployed seven of these X-ray spectrometers to a variety of light sources, accelerator facilities, and laboratory-scale experiments; these seven spectrometers have already performed measurements related to their applications. Another five of these spectrometers will come online in the near future. We have applied our TES spectrometers to the following measurement applications: synchrotron-based absorption and emission spectroscopy and energy-resolved scattering; accelerator-based spectroscopy of hadronic atoms and particle-induced-emission spectroscopy; laboratory-based time-resolved absorption and emission spectroscopy with a tabletop, broadband source; and laboratory-based metrology of X-ray-emission lines. Here, we discuss the design, construction, and operation of our TES spectrometers and show first-light measurements from the various systems. Finally, because X-ray-TES technology continues to mature, we discuss improvements to array size, energy resolution, and counting speed that we anticipate in our next generation of TES-X-ray spectrometers and beyond.

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Section: Faster Detectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A practical superconducting-microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometer for beamline and laboratory science

Doriese

Abbamonte

Alpert

et al. 2017

Review of Scientific Instruments

120

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…A schematic diagram of the pixel is shown in Fig 4. This particular pixel design is often referred to as a high dynamic range, high count-rate option because of the excellent spectral resolution and count-rate capability demonstrated over a wide range of energies. This particular device had a signal decay time of τ etf = 200 μs, and was able to accommodate relatively high count rates of above 100 counts per second without significant energy resolution degradation 39 . Figure 10 shows the measured spectral resolution as a function of energy (up to Cu-Kα) as well as the measured Mn-Kα spectrum.…”

Section: Small Pixel Array Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transition-edge sensor pixel parameter design of the microcalorimeter array for the x-ray integral field unit on Athena

et al. 2016

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The focal plane of the X-ray integral field unit (X-IFU) for ESA's Athena X-ray observatory will consist of ~ 4000 transition edge sensor (TES) x-ray microcalorimeters optimized for the energy range of 0.2 to 12 keV. The instrument will provide unprecedented spectral resolution of ~ 2.5 eV at energies of up to 7 keV and will accommodate photon fluxes of 1 mCrab (90 cps) for point source observations. The baseline configuration is a uniform large pixel array (LPA) of 4.28" pixels that is read out using frequency domain multiplexing (FDM). However, an alternative configuration under study incorporates an 18 × 18 small pixel array (SPA) of 2" pixels in the central ~ 36" region. This hybrid array configuration could be designed to accommodate higher fluxes of up to 10 mCrab (900 cps) or alternately for improved spectral performance (< 1.5 eV) at low count-rates. In this paper we report on the TES pixel designs that are being optimized to meet these proposed LPA and SPA configurations. In particular we describe details of how important TES parameters are chosen to meet the specific mission criteria such as energy resolution, count-rate and quantum efficiency, and highlight performance trade-offs between designs. The basis of the pixel parameter selection is discussed in the context of existing TES arrays that are being developed for solar and x-ray astronomy applications. We describe the latest results on DC biased diagnostic arrays as well as large format kilo-pixel arrays and discuss the technical challenges associated with integrating different array types on to a single detector die.

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“…The recovery time depends on measurable parameters such as the device heat capacity and bias power. In a single TES with = 200 Â 10 À6 s, spectral resolution as good as 2.3 eV at 6 keV has been achieved at 100 Hz and 99.6% photon acceptance rate (Lee et al, 2014). A complete theory exists to predict in the small signal limit .…”

Section: Johann Von Hamos 5 Crystalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-resolution X-ray emission spectroscopy with transition-edge sensors: present performance and future potential

et al. 2015

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X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) is a powerful element-selective tool to analyze the oxidation states of atoms in complex compounds, determine their electronic configuration, and identify unknown compounds in challenging environments. Until now the low efficiency of wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectrometer technology has limited the use of XES, especially in combination with weaker laboratory X-ray sources. More efficient energy-dispersive detectors have either insufficient energy resolution because of the statistical limits described by Fano or too low counting rates to be of practical use. This paper updates an approach to high-resolution X-ray emission spectroscopy that uses a microcalorimeter detector array of superconducting transition-edge sensors (TESs). TES arrays are discussed and compared with conventional methods, and shown under which circumstances they are superior. It is also shown that a TES array can be integrated into a table-top time-resolved X-ray source and a soft X-ray synchrotron beamline to perform emission spectroscopy with good chemical sensitivity over a very wide range of energies.

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High Count-Rate Studies of Small-Pitch Transition-Edge Sensor X-ray Microcalorimeters

Cited by 10 publications

References 12 publications

A practical superconducting-microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometer for beamline and laboratory science

A practical superconducting-microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometer for beamline and laboratory science

Transition-edge sensor pixel parameter design of the microcalorimeter array for the x-ray integral field unit on Athena

High-resolution X-ray emission spectroscopy with transition-edge sensors: present performance and future potential

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