Demonstration of Athena X-IFU Compatible 40-Row Time-Division-Multiplexed Readout

Published

March 19, 2019

Author(s)

Malcolm S. Durkin, Joseph S. Adams, Simon R. Bandler, James A. Chervenak, Saptarshi Chaudhuri, Carl S. Dawson, Edward V. Denison, William B. Doriese, Shannon M. Duff, F. M. Finkbeiner, C. T. FitzGerald, Joseph W. Fowler, Johnathon D. Gard, Gene C. Hilton, Kent D. Irwin, Young I. Joe, R. L. Kelley, Caroline A. Kilbourne, A. R. Miniussi, Kelsey M. Morgan, Galen C. O'Neil, Christine G. Pappas, F. S. Porter, Carl D. Reintsema, David A. Rudman, Kazuhiro Sakai, Stephen J. Smith, Robert W. Stevens, Daniel S. Swetz, Paul Szypryt, Joel N. Ullom, Leila R. Vale, N. Wakeham, Joel C. Weber, B. A. Young

Abstract

Time-division multiplexing (TDM) is the backup readout technology for the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU), a 3168-pixel X-ray transition-edge sensor (TES) array that will provide imaging spectroscopy for european space agency's Athena satellite mission. X-IFU design studies are considering readout with a multiplexing factor of up to 40. We present data showing 40-row TDM readout (32 TES rows + 8 repeats of the last row) of TESs that are of the same type as those being planned for X-IFU, using measurement and analysis parameters within the ranges specified for X-IFU. Single-column TDM measurements have best-fit energy resolution of (1.91 +/- 0.01) eV for the Al Kα complex (1.5 keV), (2.10 +/- 0.02) eV for Ti Kα (4.5 keV), (2.23 +/- 0.02) eV for Mn Kα (5.9 keV), (2.40 +/- 0.02) eV for Co Kα (6.9 keV), and (3.44 +/- 0.04) eV for Br Kα (11.9 keV). Three-column measurements have best-fit resolution of (2.03 +/- 0.01) eV for Ti Kα and (2.40 +/- 0.01) eV for Co Kα. The degradation due to the multiplexed readout ranges from 0.1 eV at the lower end of the energy range to 0.5 eV at the higher end. The demonstrated performance meets X-IFU's energy-resolution and energy-range requirements. True 40-row TDM readout, without repeated rows, of kilopixel scale arrays of X-IFU-like TESs is now under development.

Proceedings Title

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Volume

29

Issue

5

Conference Dates

October 28-November 2, 2018

Conference Location

Seattle, WA

Conference Title

Applied Superconductivity Conference

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1109/TASC.2019.2904472

Local Download

Keywords

transition-edge sensors, TES, superconducting quantum interference devices, multiplexed readout, Athena, time-division multiplexing, TDM, satellite, X-ray Integral Field Unit, X-IFU

Citation

Durkin, M. , Adams, J. , Bandler, S. , Chervenak, J. , Chaudhuri, S. , Dawson, C. , Denison, E. , Doriese, W. , Duff, S. , Finkbeiner, F. , FitzGerald, C. , Fowler, J. , Gard, J. , Hilton, G. , Irwin, K. , Joe, Y. , Kelley, R. , Kilbourne, C. , Miniussi, A. , Morgan, K. , O'Neil, G. , Pappas, C. , Porter, F. , Reintsema, C. , Rudman, D. , Sakai, K. , Smith, S. , Stevens, R. , Swetz, D. , Szypryt, P. , Ullom, J. , Vale, L. , Wakeham, N. , Weber, J. and Young, B. (2019), Demonstration of Athena X-IFU Compatible 40-Row Time-Division-Multiplexed Readout, IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, Seattle, WA, [online], https://doi.org/10.1109/TASC.2019.2904472 (Accessed October 14, 2025)