Athena (advanced telescope for high-energy astrophysics) is an ESA large-class mission, at present under a re-definition “design-to-cost” phase, planned for a prospective launch at L1 orbit in the second half of the 2030s. It will be an observatory alternatively focusing on two complementary instruments: the X-IFU (X-ray Integral Field Unit), a TES (TransitionEdge Sensor)-based kilo-pixel array which is able to perform simultaneous high-grade energy spectroscopy (~3 eV@7 keV) and imaging over 4′ FoV (field of view), and the WFI (Wide Field Imager), which has good energy spectral resolution (~170 eV@7 keV) and imaging on wide 40′ × 40′ FoV. Athena will be a truly transformational observatory, operating in conjunction with other large observatories across the electromagnetic spectrum available in the 2030s like ALMA, ELT, JWST, SKA, CTA, etc., and in multi-messenger synergies with facilities like LIGO A+, Advanced Virgo+, LISA, IceCube and KM3NeT. The Italian team is involved in both instruments. It has the co-PIship of the cryogenic instrument for which it has to deliver the TES-based Cryogenic AntiCoincidence detector (CryoAC) necessary to guarantee the X-IFU sensitivity, degraded by a primary particle background of both solar and galactic cosmic ray (GCR) origins, and by secondary electrons produced by primaries interacting with the materials surrounding the main detector. The outcome of Geant4 studies shows the necessity for adopting both active and passive techniques to guarantee the residual particle background at 5 × 10−3 cts cm−2 s−1 keV−1 level in 2–10 keV scientific bandwidth. The CryoAC is a four-pixel detector made of Si-suspended absorbers sensed by Ir/Au TESes placed at <1 mm below the main detector. After a brief overview of the Athena mission, we will report on the particle background reduction techniques highlighting the impact of the Geant4 simulation on the X-IFU focal plane assembly design, then hold a broader discussion on the CryoAC program in terms of detection chain system requirements, test, design concept against trade-off studies and programmatic.

The Cryogenic Anticoincidence Detector for the NewAthena X-IFU Instrument: A Program Overview

D'Andrea M.;Minervini G.;Gatti F.;Chiarello F.;Torrioli G.;
2023

Abstract

Athena (advanced telescope for high-energy astrophysics) is an ESA large-class mission, at present under a re-definition “design-to-cost” phase, planned for a prospective launch at L1 orbit in the second half of the 2030s. It will be an observatory alternatively focusing on two complementary instruments: the X-IFU (X-ray Integral Field Unit), a TES (TransitionEdge Sensor)-based kilo-pixel array which is able to perform simultaneous high-grade energy spectroscopy (~3 eV@7 keV) and imaging over 4′ FoV (field of view), and the WFI (Wide Field Imager), which has good energy spectral resolution (~170 eV@7 keV) and imaging on wide 40′ × 40′ FoV. Athena will be a truly transformational observatory, operating in conjunction with other large observatories across the electromagnetic spectrum available in the 2030s like ALMA, ELT, JWST, SKA, CTA, etc., and in multi-messenger synergies with facilities like LIGO A+, Advanced Virgo+, LISA, IceCube and KM3NeT. The Italian team is involved in both instruments. It has the co-PIship of the cryogenic instrument for which it has to deliver the TES-based Cryogenic AntiCoincidence detector (CryoAC) necessary to guarantee the X-IFU sensitivity, degraded by a primary particle background of both solar and galactic cosmic ray (GCR) origins, and by secondary electrons produced by primaries interacting with the materials surrounding the main detector. The outcome of Geant4 studies shows the necessity for adopting both active and passive techniques to guarantee the residual particle background at 5 × 10−3 cts cm−2 s−1 keV−1 level in 2–10 keV scientific bandwidth. The CryoAC is a four-pixel detector made of Si-suspended absorbers sensed by Ir/Au TESes placed at <1 mm below the main detector. After a brief overview of the Athena mission, we will report on the particle background reduction techniques highlighting the impact of the Geant4 simulation on the X-IFU focal plane assembly design, then hold a broader discussion on the CryoAC program in terms of detection chain system requirements, test, design concept against trade-off studies and programmatic.
2023
Istituto di fotonica e nanotecnologie - IFN
Athena
CryoAC
cryogenic detectors
Geant4
particle background
space instrumentation
TES
X-IFU
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
condensedmatter-08-00108-v2c.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Versione Editoriale (PDF)
Licenza: Creative commons
Dimensione 1.93 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
1.93 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14243/480622
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 4
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact