NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.
Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.
An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Signal Readout for Transition-Edge Sensor X-ray Imaging Spectrometers
Published
Author(s)
Hiroki Akamatsu, W.Bertrand (Randy) Doriese, John Mates, Brian Jackson
Abstract
Arrays of low-temperature microcalorimeters provide a promising technology for X-ray astrophysics: the imaging spectrometer. A camera with at least several thousand pixels, each of which has an energy-resolving power (E∕ΔE_FWHM) of a few thousand across a broad energy range (200 eV to 10 keV or higher), would be a revolutionary instrument for the study of energetic astrophysical objects and phenomena. Signal readout is a critical enabling technology. Multiplexed readout, in which signals from multiple pixels are combined into a single amplifier channel, allows a kilopixel-scale microcalorimeter array to meet the stringent requirements for power consumption, mass, volume, and cooling capacity in orbit. This chapter describes three different multiplexed-readout technologies for transition-edge sensor microcalorimeters: time-division multiplexing, frequency-domain multiplexing, and microwave-SQUID multiplexing. For each multiplexing technique, we present the basic method, discuss some design considerations and parameters, and show the state of the art. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of future prospects.
Akamatsu, H.
, Doriese, W.
, Mates, J.
and Jackson, B.
(2023),
Signal Readout for Transition-Edge Sensor X-ray Imaging Spectrometers, Handbook of X-ray and Gamma-ray Astrophysics, Springer Nature, Berlin, , [online], https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4544-0_24-1, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=935139
(Accessed October 20, 2025)