Development of Multilayer Readout Wiring TES Calorimeter for Future X-ray Missions

We have fabricated multilayer readout wiring transition edge sensors (TES), which enable us to realize both large effective area and high-energy resolution for future X-ray astrophysical missions, such as diffuse intergalactic oxygen surveyor. By sandwiching a SiO \(_2\) insulation layer between Al superconducting signal and return lines, self/mutual inductances and self fielding of bias leads are expected to be reduced. We fabricated \(4\times 4\) and \(20\times 20\) TES array on the multilayer wiring and tested their performance. Under the low temperature condition, several pixels in the TES array showed sharp superconducting transitions at around \(\sim \) 300 mK. We also succeeded in detecting X-ray signals from the \(4\times 4\) TES, contrary to the previous results of \(20\times 20\) TES. We further investigated the reasons for the differences between the \(4\times 4\) TES and the \(20\times 20\) TES, and present future plans for improving the multilayer TES array fabrication.     

Development of Laboratory Experimental System to Clarify Solar Wind Charge Exchange Mechanism with TES Microcalorimeter

Significant fraction of the cosmic diffuse soft X-ray emission (0.1–1?keV) is caused by the Solar Wind Charge eXchange (SWCX) process between the solar wind ion (C ^q+, N ^q+, O ^q+ etc.) and the interplanetary neutral matter. It is difficult to identify spectral features of SWCX with the spectral resolution of existing X-ray astronomy satellites. We are developing a laboratory experimental system with transition edge sensor (TES) X-ray microcalorimeters, in order to clarify the SWCX mechanism. This experiment is designed to measure Charge eXchange (CX) X-rays using Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source (ECRIS) that generates multi-charged ions. Emission lines (O_VIII: 2p→1s; 654?eV) by CX between O⁸⁺ and neutral He atom is aimed to be measured with energy resolution better than 10?eV. The TES microcalorimeter is cooled by a double-stage adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (DADR), however, our TES microcalorimeter are not working potentially due to magnetic field contamination. This paper reports our experimental system, present results, and future prospects.     

Development of Dielectric X-Ray Microcalorimeter

For future X-ray astronomy, a microcalorimeter array that has both mega-pixel imaging capability and eV-level high energy-resolution is desirable. In order to realize it, thermometers with negligible self-heating, multiplexing readout and close packing are essential components. We propose a novel detector concept, a dielectric microcalorimeter (DMC) and present current design studies. The DMC uses dielectric pixels as thermometers which form LC resonators in GHz band. The signals from many pixels can be easily multiplexed in a similar way to kinetic inductance detectors. The dielectric pixels are easy to be integrated into large and dense arrays. However, dielectrics with temperature-dependent permittivity below 2 K were not known. We evaluated quantum ferroelectric strontium titanate (STO) used in a capacitive thermometer higher than 2 K as a suitable dielectric for the DMC pixels. We fabricated STO capacitors and measured their capacitance from 2 K down to 80?mK. As a result, we found that their capacitive thermometer sensitivity at 100 mK are dlogC/dlogT～10^?3, and they can be sensitive enough to detect X-ray with a resonator. We report the concepts, the measurement details, expected response to X-ray irradiation and our designs of the DMC.     

EURECA: European-Japanese Microcalorimeter Array

The EURECA project aims to demonstrate technological readiness of a micro-calorimeter array for application in future X-ray astronomy missions, like Constellation-X, EDGE, and XEUS. The prototype instrument consists of a 5×5 pixel array of TES-based micro-calorimeters read out by two SQUID-amplifier channels using frequency-domain-multiplexing (FDM) with digital base-band feedback. The detector array is cooled by a cryogen-free cryostat consisting of a pulse tube cooler and a two stage ADR. Initial tests of the system at the PTB beam line of the BESSY synchrotron showed stable performance and an X-ray energy resolution of 1.5 eV at 250 eV for read-out of one TES-pixel only. Next step is deployment of FDM to read-out the full array. Full performance demonstration is expected end 2008.      

Analyses on the operating point dependence of the energy resolution with a Ti/Au TES microcalorimeter

We examined the performance of a single pixel Ti/Au transition-edge sensor (TES) calorimeter for incident X-ray energies of Al-K, Cr-K, and Fe-K, as a function of the TES resistance. We find that the energy resolution does not always degrade with increasing energy. The best energy resolution of 5.7±0.9 eV at 6.4 keV is obtained, which is possibly even better than the baseline width of 6.5±0.2 eV. Assuming that the noise level is determined by the noise spectrum NS(f;RR+dR(E)) considering the resistance change of dR(E), instead of NS(f;R) at the operating point, these results may be explained by the fact that the noise decreases at the higher TES resistance. The pulse variation appears to have a minimum at a certain resistance of R+dR(E)48 mΩ, and the best energy resolution for each line is obtained at such an operating point, respectively. The pulse variation could be enhanced when the fluctuation of the TES sensitivity is large at R+dR(E).     

The non-equilibrium response of a high-resolution Ti/Au X-ray microcalorimeter

We have studied the response of a high resolution Ti/Au transition edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeter with an energy resolution of 6.2±0.7 eV at 1.5 keV and 7.8±0.9 eV at 6.4 keV. We find that the sensitivity ≡R/T dR/dT of the TES varies significantly along the superconducting-to-normal transition that the bias point traverses during a pulse. Furthermore, is reduced significantly during a pulse compared to its equilibrium value calculated from the DC characteristics. This leads to an overestimate of the expected energy resolution when basing the prediction on the equilibrium sensitivity.     

Development of mechanical cryocoolers for the cooling system of the Soft X-ray Spectrometer onboard Astro-H

Astro-H is the Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite planned for launch in 2014. The Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) onboard Astro-H, is a high energy resolution spectrometer utilizing an X-ray micro-calorimeter array, which is operated at 50 mK by the ADR with the 30-L superfluid liquid helium (LHe). The mechanical cryocoolers, 4 K-class Joule Thomson (JT) cooler and 20 K-class double-staged Stirling (2ST) cooler are key components to achieve a LHe lifetime for over 3 years in orbit (5 years as a goal). Based on the existing cryocoolers onboard Akari (2006) and JEM/SMILES (2009), modifications for higher cooling power and reliability had been investigated. In the present development phase, the Engineering Models (EMs) of these upgraded cryocoolers are fabricated to carry out verification tests for cooling performance, mechanical performance and lifetime. Nominal cooling power of 200 mW at 20 K for the 2ST cooler and 40 mW at 4.5 K for the JT cooler were demonstrated with temperature and power margin. Mechanical performance test for the 2ST cooler units proves tolerability for pyro shock and vibration environment of the Astro-H criteria. Continuous running of the 4 K-class JT cooler combined with the 2ST precooler for lifetime test has achieved over 5000 h without any degradation of cooling performance.     

TEM-EDS with Breakthroughs in 3D Wiring and High-Speed Processing

We have been improving our TEM-EDS for elemental microanalysis after a successful achievement of a high energy resolution (7.8?eV at 1.7?keV) using a TES microcalorimeter. The improvements fall into a 3D superconductive wiring and a high-speed processing (～3,000?cps). We are implementing a 10-ch TES array for higher count rate and a broader dynamic range. The shape of a probe needs to be a small polygonal rod with an approximate size of 1?cm×1?cm×10?cm, and hence the placing and wiring of the TES array and read-out circuits at the cryogenic stage were very demanding. We overcame those difficulties by 3D photolithography and electrodeposition. With these new technologies, we developed the OFC probe with solder-plated 3D wiring, and successfully observed a superconductivity at the temperature of liquid helium. As a required count rate per channel is ～300?cps, the overall system count rate is ～3,000?cps, which is incomparably higher than before. In the last model, we used an embedded system to process waveforms from a 4-ch 14-bit 1?MS/s ADC due to a small signal bandwidth, but this time we parallelized three identical ADCs and transfer raw waveforms by Ethernet lines to a host to achieve the required system count rate.     

Porous plug and superfluid helium film flow suppressor for the soft X-ray spectrometer onboard Astro-H

Suppression of superfluid helium flow is critical for the Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) onboard Astro-H, to achieve a life time of the liquid helium over 5 years. The superfluid film flow must be sufficiently small, compared to a nominal helium gas flow rate of the SXS . For this purpose, four devices composed of a porous plug, an orifice, a heat exchanger, and knife edge devices will be employed based on the experience of the X-ray microcalorimeter (XRS for X-Ray Spectrometer) onboard Suzaku. The porous plug is a phase separator of the liquid and gas helium. A potential film flow leaking from the porous plug is suppressed by the orifice. Almost all the remaining film flow evaporates at the heat exchanger. The knife edge devices stop the remaining film flow by using atomically sharp edges. In this paper, we describe the principle and design of these four devices.     

Microcalorimeter Instruments for the Spectrum-R(X)G and NeXT Missions

X-ray spectrometers utilizing a microcalorimeter array are presently under study for the Russian Spectrum R-G (or Spectrum-X-Gamma) mission, which is to be launched in 2011, and for the Japanese NeXT (New X-ray Telescope or Non-thermal energy eXploration Telescope) mission, whose launch is expected to be in 2012 to 2015. The primary instrument of Spectrum R-G is eROSITA, which will make an all sky survey in the 0.1–10 keV range using an array of seven telescopes and X-ray CCD cameras. The mission also carries smaller instruments, a wide-field monitor (Lobster) and a hard X-ray telescope (ART). We are proposing SXC—the Spectrum-X Calorimeter—to obtain spatially-resolved precision spectra of a number of nearby massive clusters of galaxies during an initial 6-month pointed phase, and to obtain a detailed spectral map of the soft X-ray diffuse background during the 4-year survey phase. The NeXT mission is a combination of wide band X-ray spectroscopy provided by multi-layer coating, focusing X-ray mirrors and pixel detectors, and high resolution soft X-ray spectroscopy by microcalorimeter instrument, SXS—the Soft X-ray Spectrometer. The effective area of the SXS is about 20 times larger than that of SXC at the iron K line energy (6.7 keV) while the solid angle of the field of view is by a factor of 15 smaller. One of the major scientific objectives of SXS is to determine turbulent and/or macroscopic velocities in the hot gas of distant clusters of galaxies. Both of the instruments will use 6×6 microcalorimeter array similar to the one launched on Suzaku, while both will adopt a ³He Joule Thomson cooler and two-stage Stirling cycle in the cryogenic systems. The ³He Joule Thomson cooler provides a thermal guard to liquid He but it can also work as a 1.8 K heat bath for the adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator.