The design, implementation, and performance of the Astro-H SXS aperture assembly and blocking filters

Caroline A. Kilbourne; Joseph S. Adams; Petar Arsenovic; Travis Ayers; Meng P. Chiao; Michael J. Dipirro; Megan E. Eckart; Ryuichi Fujimoto; John D. Kazeva; Richard L. Kelley; Kari L. Kripps; Bruce Lairson; Maurice A. Leutenegger; Heidi Lopez; Dan McCammon; Daniel S. McGuinness; Kazuhisa Mitsuda; Samuel J. Moseley; F. Scott Porter; Andrea N. Schweiss; Yoh Takei; Rosemary S. Thorpe; Tomomi Watanabe; Noriko Y. Yamasaki; Seiji Yoshida

doi:10.1117/12.2232240

11 July 2016 The design, implementation, and performance of the Astro-H SXS aperture assembly and blocking filters

Caroline A. Kilbourne, Joseph S. Adams, Petar Arsenovic, Travis Ayers, Meng P. Chiao, Michael J. Dipirro, Megan E. Eckart, Ryuichi Fujimoto, John D. Kazeva, Richard L. Kelley, Kari L. Kripps, Bruce Lairson, Maurice A. Leutenegger, Heidi Lopez, Dan McCammon, Daniel S. McGuinness, Kazuhisa Mitsuda, Samuel J. Moseley, F. Scott Porter, Andrea N. Schweiss, Yoh Takei, Rosemary S. Thorpe, Tomomi Watanabe, Noriko Y. Yamasaki, Seiji Yoshida

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 99053Q (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232240
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

The calorimeter array of the JAXA Astro-H (renamed Hitomi) Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) was designed to provide unprecedented spectral resolution of spatially extended cosmic x-ray sources and of all cosmic x-ray sources in the Fe-K band around 6 keV, enabling essential plasma diagnostics. The properties that make the SXS array a powerful x-ray spectrometer also make it sensitive to photons from the entire electromagnetic band, and particles as well. If characterized as a bolometer, it would have a noise equivalent power (NEP) of < 4x10^-18 W/(Hz)^0.5. Thus it was imperative to shield the detector from thermal radiation from the instrument and optical and UV photons from the sky. Additionally, it was necessary to shield the coldest stages of the instrument from the thermal radiation emanating from the warmer stages. Both of these needs are addressed by a series of five thin-film radiation-blocking filters, anchored to the nested temperature stages, that block long-wavelength radiation while minimizing x-ray attenuation. The aperture assembly is a system of barriers, baffles, filter carriers, and filter mounts that supports the filters and inhibits their potential contamination. The three outer filters also have been equipped with thermometers and heaters for decontamination. We present the requirements, design, implementation, and performance of the SXS aperture assembly and blocking filters.

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Caroline A. Kilbourne, Joseph S. Adams, Petar Arsenovic, Travis Ayers, Meng P. Chiao, Michael J. Dipirro, Megan E. Eckart, Ryuichi Fujimoto, John D. Kazeva, Richard L. Kelley, Kari L. Kripps, Bruce Lairson, Maurice A. Leutenegger, Heidi Lopez, Dan McCammon, Daniel S. McGuinness, Kazuhisa Mitsuda, Samuel J. Moseley, F. Scott Porter, Andrea N. Schweiss, Yoh Takei, Rosemary S. Thorpe, Tomomi Watanabe, Noriko Y. Yamasaki, and Seiji Yoshida "The design, implementation, and performance of the Astro-H SXS aperture assembly and blocking filters", Proc. SPIE 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 99053Q (11 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232240

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