Development of an End-to-End Demonstration Readout Chain for Athena/X-IFU

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https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10909-022-02779-9

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-022-02779-9
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/25693

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UMBC Center for Space Sciences and Technology (CSST) / Center for Research and Exploration in Space Sciences & Technology II (CRSST II)
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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9247-3010

Date

2022-08-16

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journal articles
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Citation of Original Publication

Beaumont, S., Pajot, F., Roudil, G. et al. Development of an End-to-End Demonstration Readout Chain for Athena/X-IFU. J Low Temp Phys (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-022-02779-9

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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
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Abstract

The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) of the Athena observatory, scheduled for launch in the mid 2030’s, will provide X-ray spectroscopy data with unprecedented spectral and spatial resolution. This will be achieved with a 2 kilo-pixel array of transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeters. The complete detection chain is under development by a large international collaboration. In order to perform an end-to-end demonstration of the X-IFU readout chain, a 50 mK test bench is being developed at IRAP in collaboration with CNES. The test bench uses a two-stage ADR cryostat from Entropy GmbH, a 1024-pixel array, and will initially be operated using a warm electronics chain from NIST and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. We describe the complete system being installed in the cryostat and the current results obtained with these electronics. We also review the status of the integration of the digital readout electronics (DRE) prototype into the demonstration chain and the plan for integrating and testing the complete X-IFU readout chain.