[en] The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) is one of the two instruments of the Athena astrophysics space mission approved by ESA in the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Science Programme. The X-IFU consists of a large array of transition edge sensor micro-calorimeters that will operate at 100 mK inside a sophisticated cryostat. A set of thin filters, highly transparent to X-rays, will be mounted on the opening windows of the cryostat thermal shields in order to attenuate the IR radiative load, to attenuate radio frequency electromagnetic interferences, and to protect the detector from contamination. Thermal filters are critical items in the proper operation of the X-IFU detector in space. They need to be strong enough to survive the launch stresses but very thin to be highly transparent to X-rays. They essentially define the detector quantum efficiency at low energies and are fundamental to make the photon shot noise a negligible contribution to the energy resolution budget. In this paper, we review the main results of modeling and characterization tests of the thermal filters performed during the phase A study to identify the suitable materials, optimize the design, and demonstrate that the chosen technology can reach the proper readiness before mission adoption.
Research Center/Unit :
STAR - Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research - ULiège
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Barbera, Marco; Univ. degli Studi di Palermo (Italy)
Lo Cicero, Ugo; INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo Giuseppe S. Vaiana (Italy)
Sciortino, Luisa; Univ. degli studi di Palermo (Italy)
D'Anca, Fabio; Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Italy)
Lo Cicero, Giuseppe; Univ. degli Studi di Palermo (Italy)
Parodi, Giancarlo; BCV Progetti S.r.l. (Italy)
Sciortino, Salvatore; INAF - Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (Italy)
Rauw, Grégor ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Groupe d'astrophysique des hautes énergies (GAPHE)
Branduardi-Raymont, Graziella; Univ. College London (United Kingdom)
Varisco, Salvatore; INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo Giuseppe S. Vaiana (Italy)
Ferruggia Bonura, Salvatore; Univ. degli Studi di Palermo (Italy)
Collura, Alfonso; INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo (Italy)
Candia, Roberto; INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo Giuseppe S. Vaiana (Italy)
Di Cicca, Gaspare; INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo Giuseppe S. Vaiana (Italy)
Giglio, Paolo; Univ. degli Studi di Palermo (Italy)
Buttacavoli, Antonino; INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo (Italy)
Cuttaia, Francesco; INAF - IASF Bologna (Italy)
Villa, Fabrizio; INAF - IASF Bologna (Italy)
Cappi, Massimo; INAF - IASF Bologna (Italy)
Lam Trong, Thien; Ctr. National d'Études Spatiales (France)
Mesnager, Jean-Michel; Ctr. National d'Études Spatiales (France)
Peille, Philippe; Ctr. National d'Études Spatiales (France)
den Hartog, Roland; SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (Netherlands)
den Herder, Jan Willem; SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (Netherlands)
Jackson, Brian; SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (Netherlands)
Barret, Didier; Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (France)
Piro, Luigi; INAF - Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziale (Italy))
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