Development of instruments for space-based astronomy

Tec_micro

X-ray Astronomy

X-ray astronomy is far more recent than optical astronomy and supplies unique data on the physics and history of the universe. As the X-radiation from space is prevented from reaching the Earth by the atmosphere, it is necessary that in order to detect X-rays, instruments are brought beyond the atmosphere.


From rockets to orbiting observatories

Back in the 60s, the first experimental observations of celestial X-ray sources employed rockets as a means to maintain the X-ray detectors at a high enough altitude to detect radiation for a few minutes. These experiments were aimed at confirming the scientific value of X-ray observations, as the existence of extra-solar X sources was still unproven. Nowadays X-ray astronomy employs real orbiting observatories able to observe the sky for several years. Rockets, however, are still in use to test the functionality of new generation equipment. Experiments based on orbiting observatories require long preparation times (sometimes over ten years) and involve researchers and institutions from various countries to plan and carry out the mission. Performance testing, calibration and adjustment procedures on the instruments prior to the launch are crucial operations as on these relies the success of the mission and a correct interpretation of the observational data.


The XACT laboratory

In the early 90s at the Palermo Observatory a laboratory was set up, with the purpose of developing and calibrating equipment for X-ray astronomy. At the XACT (X-ray Astronomy Calibrating and Testing) laboratory, pieces of instruments such as filters, detectors and optical parts have been calibrated and tested for use in some of the most important international X-ray astronomy missions of the past 15 years. The OAPA/UNIPA team has achieved specific skills in designing and calibrating filters used in X-ray astronomy missions. Filters are essential for the proper operation of astronomical X-ray detectors, as they stop visible and UV light and low-energy particles which would otherwise hit the detector, damaging it or reducing its effectiveness. Filters are also used to reduce the radiation heat power onto detectors operating at low temperatures. Throughout the years, the laboratory has been expanded and upgraded with advanced equipment, in line with the latest requirements of ongoing space missions. In addition, R&D programs aimed at the development of frontier instrumentation for X-ray astronomy have been started.

In this framework, the initial 18 meter long X-ray beam-line was expanded to 34,5 meters, to better approximate the real case in space of a large distance between the astronomical sources and the X-ray instrumentation. An Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator (ADR), able to maintain few tens of mK temperatures has been built in house and installed inside a large faraday cage for the testing of cryogenic X-ray detectors in a low EMI environment. A Micro-technologies laboratory has been set up for developing and manufacturing energy dispersive X-ray detectors. It includes a clean-room and equipment for thin film deposition, electroplating, polishing, spin-coating, chemical etching and micro-photolithography.

Microcalorimeter based X-ray detectors

The project aims at the development of: high spectral resolution, energy dispersive, X-ray detector arrays based on micro-calorimeters with Neutron Transmutation Doped (NTD) germanium sensors and related readout electronics. In this framework several processes necessary for the fabrication of high density matrices have been developed. These processes, characterized by high uniformity and repeatability, include germanium etching, indium bumps deposition, metal contacts deposition and soldering, absorbers growth. Development of room temperature and low temperature electronics are in progress.

Thin-foil mirrors with active shape control

The project aims at studying the application of a system of thin piezoelectric actuators to grazing-incidence X-ray telescope optic prototypes made of a lightweight materials such as thin glass or plastic foils, in order to increase their angular resolution. A feasible solution of light weight foils with improved resolution via active control would be extremely promising for the construction of large area high angular resolution X-ray telescopes for future missions such as ATHENA. Different activities are conducted in collaboration between INAF-OAPA, INAF-OAB and UNIPA including the deposition by photolithography of the printed circuit on the mirror to apply the voltage signals, design and construction of the driving electronics based on a multi-channel low power consumption voltage supply, conduction of the X-ray tests in intra-focal setup using the X-ray beam-line of the XACT laboratory, analysis and interpretation of the X-ray images to provide the feedback to correct the mirror shape.

Participation to the development of Future Space Missions

The UNIPA/INAF-OAPA research team is involved in the design and development of instrumentation for the ATHENA high energy mission selected by ESA as a large mission of the CV program with a launch scheduled in 2028. In particular, the team has the responsibility to design and develop the aperture cylinder thermal filters mounted on the cryostat of the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) microcalorimeter detector, and the optical filter mounted on the filter wheel of the Wide FIeld Imager (WFI) large area DEPFET array detector. The group also collaborate to the design and development of the anti-coincidence detector of the X-IFU that is under the responsibility of the italian team leaded by dr. Luigi Piro at INAF-IAPS.

The UNIPA/INAF-OAPA has also the responsibility to design the filters for the Large Area Detector of the LOFT mission which has undergone the feasibility study as an M3 mission of the ESA CV program and has recently been submitted for the M4 call.

Other activities

 

  • Monitoring of back-up filters of the XMM-Newton EPIC camera;
  • Testing of lobster eye X-ray optics in collaboration with Czech Technical University in Prague e Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
  • Collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Science in Bejing in the framework of the Chinese space program CHANG-E
  • Development of plastic film based X-ray optics in collaboration with SAO – Cambridge, Mass, INAF IASF-PA, INAF OAB and University of Ferrara
  • Development and test of High Concentration PhotoVoltaic systems
Involved people:

 

Relevant References

  1. Spiga D, Barbera M, Basso S, Civitani M, Collura A, Dell’Agostino S, Lo Cicero U, Lullo G, Pelliciari C, Riva M, Salmaso B, Sciortino L (2014). Active shape correction of a thin glass/plastic x-ray mirror. Proc. SPIE, vol. 9208, ISSN: 0277-786X, doi: 10.1117/12.2063349

  2. Macculi C., Piro L., Colasanti L., Lotti S., Natalucci L., Bagliani D., Biasotti M., Gatti F., Torrioli G., Barbera M., Mineo T., Perinati E (2014). The Cryogenic AntiCoincidence Detector Project for ATHENA+: An Overview Up to the Present Status. JOURNAL OF LOW TEMPERATURE PHYSICS, vol. Volume 176, Issue 5-6, p. 1022-1032, ISSN: 0022-2291, doi: 10.1007/s10909-014-1150-4

  3. Barbera M., Winter B., Coker J., Feroci M., Kennedy T., Walton D., Zane S. (2014). Baseline design of the filters for the LAD detector on board LOFT. In: Proc. SPIE 9144, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray. Proc. SPIE, p. 1-11, ISBN: 9780819496126, ISSN: 1996-756X, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, June 22, 2014, doi: 10.1117/12.2057408

  4. Barbera M., Collura A., Gatti F., Lo Cicero U., Macculi C., Piro L., Renotte E., Sciortino S. (2014). Baseline design of the thermal blocking filters for the X-IFU detector on board ATHENA. In: Proc. SPIE 9144, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray. Proc. SPIE, p. 1-11, ISBN: 9780819496126, ISSN: 1996-756X, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, June 22, 2014, doi: 10.1117/12.2057403

  5. Sciortino L, Agnello S, Barbera M, Bonsignore G, Buscemi A, Candia R, Cannas M, Collura A, Di Cicca G, Gelardi FM, Lo Cicero U, Montagnino FM, Napoli G, Paredes F, Spallino L, Varisco S (2014). Direct sunlight facility for testing and research in HCPV. In: AIP Conference Proceedings. ISBN: 978-0-7354-1253-8, Albuquerque, New Mexico, US, 7–9 Aprile 2014, doi: 10.1063/1.4897051

  6. Lo Cicero U, Agnello S, Barbera M, Bonsignore G, Cannas M, Collura A, Sciortino L (2014). Metal thin-film temperature sensor embedded in heat-sink for CPV cells characterization. In:AIP Conference proceeding. ISBN: 978-0-7354-1253-8, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, 7–9 Aprile 2014, doi: 10.1063/1.4897045

  7. Macculi C, Piro L, Cea D, Colasanti L, Lotti S, Natalucci L, Gatti F, Bagliani D, Biasotti M, Corsini D, Pizzigoni G, Torrioli G, Barbera M, Mineo T, Perinati E (2014). The Cryogenic AntiCoincidence detector for ATHENA: the progress towards the final pixel design. In: Proc. SPIE 9144, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray. Proc. SPIE, p. 1-14, ISBN: 9780819496126, ISSN: 1996-756X, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, June 22, 2014, doi: 10.1117/12.2054946

  8. Feroci M., et al. (2014). The large area detector of LOFT: the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing. Proc. SPIE, p. 1-19, doi: 10.1117/12.2054654

  9. Barbera M, Agnello S, Buscarino G, Collura A, Gastaldello F, La Palombara N, Lo Cicero U, Tiengo A, Sciortino L, Varisco S, Venezia AM (2013). Status of the EPIC thin and medium filters on-board XMM-Newton after more than 10 years of operation I: laboratory measurements on back-up filters. Proc. SPIE, vol. 8859-14, p. 1-12, ISSN: 0277-786X, doi: 10.1117/12.2030896

  10. Gastaldello F, Barbera M, Collura A, La Palombara N, Lo Cicero U, Sartore N, Tiengo A, Varisco S (2013). Status of the EPIC thin and medium filters on-board XMM-Newton after more than 10 years of operation II: analysis of in-flight data. Proc. SPIE, vol. 8859, p. 1-6, ISSN: 0277-786X, doi: 10.1117/12.2030897

  11. Revèret, V. , de la Broise X. , Fermon C., Pannetier-Lecoeur M. , Pigot C. , Rodriguez L., Sauvageot, J.L., Jin Y., Marnieros S. , Bouchier D., Putzeys, J., Long Y. , Kiss C., Kiraly S., Barbera M., Lo Cicero U. , Brown P., Carr C., Whiteside, B., (2013). CESAR: Cryogenic Electronics for Space Applications, Journal of Low Temperature Physics, in press., doi = 10.1007/s10909-013-1021-4.

  12. D. Barret, J. W. den Herder, L. Piro, L. Ravera, R. Den Hartog, C. Macculi, X. Barcons, M. Page, S. Paltani, G. Rauw, J. Wilms, M. Ceballos, L. Duband, L. Gottardi, S. Lotti, J. de Plaa,E. Pointecouteau, C. Schmid, H. Akamatsu, D. Bagliani, S. Bandler, M. Barbera, P. Bastia, M. Biasotti, M. Branco, A. Camon, C. Cara, B. Cobo, L. Colasanti, J.L. Costa-Kramer, L. Corcione, W. Doriese, J.M. Duval, L. Fabrega, F. Gatti, M. de Gerone, P. Guttridge, R. Kelley, C. Kilbourne, J. van der Kuur, T. Mineo, K. Mitsuda, L. Natalucci, T. Ohashi, P. Peille, E. Perinati, C. Pigot, G. Pizigoni, C. Pobes, F. Porter, E. Renotte, J. L. Sauvageot, S. Sciortino, G. Torrioli, L. Valenziano, D. Willingale, C. de Vries, H. van Weers, (2013). The Hot and Energetic Universe: The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) for Athena+. eprint arXiv:1308.6784.

  13. Lo Cicero U, Arnone C, Barbera M, Collura A, Lullo G (2012). Electroplated Indium Bumps as Thermal and Electrical Connections of NTD-Ge Sensors for the Fabrication of Microcalorimeter Arrays. JOURNAL OF LOW TEMPERATURE PHYSICS, vol. 167, p. 535-540, ISSN: 0022-2291, doi: 10.1007/s10909-012-0560-4

  14. Lo Cicero U, Arnone C, Barbera M, Collura A, Lullo G (2012). Fabrication of Electrical Contacts on Pyramid-Shaped NTD-Ge Microcalorimeters Using Free-Standing Shadow Masks.JOURNAL OF LOW TEMPERATURE PHYSICS, vol. 167, p. 541-546, ISSN: 0022-2291, doi: 10.1007/s10909-011-0418-1

  15. Ciaravella A, Jimenez-Escobar A, Caro GMM, Cecchi-Pestellini C, Candia R, Giarrusso S, Barbera M, Collura A (2012). SOFT X-RAY IRRADIATION OF PURE CARBON MONOXIDE INTERSTELLAR ICE ANALOGUES. THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS, vol. 746, issue 1, ISSN: 2041-8205, doi: 10.1088/2041-8205/746/1/L1

  16. Macculi C, Colasanti L, Lotti S, Natalucci L, Piro L, Bagliani D, Biasotti M, Gatti F, Torrioli G, Barbera M, La Rosa G, Mineo T, Perinati E (2012). The Cryogenic Anticoincidence Detector for ATHENA-XMS. JOURNAL OF LOW TEMPERATURE PHYSICS, vol. 167, p. 783-794, ISSN: 0022-2291, doi: 10.1007/s10909-012-0504-z

  17. Tichy V, Barbera M, Collura A, Hromcik M, Hudec R, Inneman A, Jakubek J, Marsik J, Marsikova V, Pina L, Varisco S (2011). Tests of lobster eye optics for small space X-ray telescope. NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH. SECTION A, ACCELERATORS, SPECTROMETERS, DETECTORS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT, vol. 633, p. S169-S171, ISSN: 0168-9002, doi: 10.1016/j.nima.2010.06.157

  18. Feroci, M., et al., “The Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT)”, Experimental Astronomy (2011), vol. 34, p. 415-444, ISSN: 0922-6435, doi: 10.1007/s10686-011-9237-2.

  19. Den Herder, J.W., et al., “ORIGIN: metal creation and evolution from the cosmic dawn”, Experimental Astronomy (2011), vol. 34, p. 519-549, ISSN: 0922-6435, doi: 10.1007/s10686-011-9224-7.

  20. Tichý, V., Barbera, M., Collura, A., Hromik, M., Hudec, R., Inneman, A., Jakůbek, J., Maršik, J., Maršikovà,V., Pìna, L., Varisco, S., “Tests of lobster eye optics for small space X-ray telescope”, NIMP-A, Vol. 633, p. S169-S171 (2011).

  21. Barbera, M., Mineo, T., Basso, S., Christensen, F.E., den Herder, J.-W., Kaastra, J., Piro, L., Spiga, D., van Baren, C., “The mirror module design for the cryogenic x-ray imaging spectrometer on-board ORIGIN”, Proc. SPIE, Volume 8076, pp. 80760A-80760A-12 (2011)

  22. Lo Cicero U, Arnone C, Barbera M, Collura A, Lullo G (2012). Electroplated Indium Bumps as Thermal and Electrical Connections of NTD-Ge Sensors for the Fabrication of Microcalorimeter Arrays. JOURNAL OF LOW TEMPERATURE PHYSICS, vol. 167, p. 535-540, ISSN: 0022-2291, doi: 10.1007/s10909-012-0560-4

  23. Lo Cicero U, Arnone C, Barbera M, Collura A, Lullo G (2012). Fabrication of Electrical Contacts on Pyramid-Shaped NTD-Ge Microcalorimeters Using Free-Standing Shadow Masks. JOURNAL OF LOW TEMPERATURE PHYSICS, vol. 167, p. 541-546, ISSN: 0022-2291, doi: 10.1007/s10909-011-0418-1

  24. Macculi, Claudio; Colasanti, Luca; Lotti, Simone; Natalucci, Lorenzo; Piro, Luigi; Bagliani, Daniela; Brunetto, Francesco; Ferrari, Lorenza; Gatti, Flavio; Torrioli, Guido; Bastia, Paolo; Bonati, Arnaldo; Barbera, Marco; La Rosa, Giovanni; Mineo, Teresa; Perinati, Emanuele The TES-based cryogenic anticoincidence detector for IXO: first results from large area prototypes, Proc. SPIE, Volume 7732, pp. 77323Y-77323Y-11 (2010)

  25. Piro, L.; et al., EDGE: Explorer of diffuse emission and gamma-ray burst explosions.   Experimental Astronomy, Volume 23, Issue 1, pp.67-89 (2009)  

  26. Dell’Orto, E.; Barbera, M.; Bulgarelli, A.; Fioretti, V.; Malaguti, G.; Mineo, T.; Pareschi, G.; Rigato, V.; Spiga, D.; Tagliaferri, G. Background Rejection of Charged Particles in the Simbol-X Telescope: Preliminary Study of Protons Scattering.   SIMBOL-X: FOCUSING ON THE HARD X-RAY UNIVERSE: Proceedings of the 2nd International Simbol-X Symposium. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1126, pp. 72-74 (2009)  

  27. U. L. Cicero, C. Arnone, M. Barbera, A. Collura, G. Lullo, E. Perinati e S. Varisco, «Planar technology for NDT-Ge X-ray microcalorimeters: absorber fabrication,»LTD13, AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 1185, p. 112–114, 2009.

  28. Collura, A.; Barbera, M.; Varisco, S.; Basso, S.; Pareschi, G.; Tagliaferri, G.; Ayers, T. Simbol-X Mirror Module Thermal Shields: I-Design and X-Ray Transmission.   SIMBOL-X: FOCUSING ON THE HARD X-RAY UNIVERSE: Proceedings of the 2nd International Simbol-X Symposium. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1126, pp. 44-47 (2009)

  29. Barbera, M.; Ayers, T.; Collura, A.; Nasillo, G.; Pareschi, G.; Tagliaferri, G. Simbol-X Mirror Module Thermal Shields: II-Small Angle X-Ray Scattering Measurements.   SIMBOL-X: FOCUSING ON THE HARD X-RAY UNIVERSE: Proceedings of the 2nd International Simbol-X Symposium. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1126, pp. 48-51 (2009)  

  30. Perinati, E.; Barbera, M.; Varisco, S.; Silver, E.; Beeman, J.; Pigot, C. Experimental evidence of an incomplete thermalization of the energy in an x-ray microcalorimeter with a Ta/Au absorber.   Review of Scientific Instruments, Volume 79, Issue 5, pp. 053905-053905-4 (2008)

  31. Szymon, Gburek; Collura, Alfonso; Barbera, Marco; Reale, Fabio; Sylwester, Janusz; Kowalinski, Miroslaw; Bakala, Jaroslaw; Kordylewski, Zbigniew; Plocieniak, Stefan; Podgorski, Piotr; Trzebinski, Witold; Varisco, Salvatore Detailed Calibration of SphinX instrument at the Palermo XACT facility of INAF-OAPA.   37th COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 13-20 July 2008, in Montréal, Canada., p.3114 (2008)

  32. Perinati, E.; Mineo, T.; Cusumano, G.; Piro, L.; Pareschi, G.; Barbera, M. Designing an x-ray baffle for stray-light reduction at the focal plane of the Wide Field Imager on board EDGE.   Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2008: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray. Edited by Turner, Martin J. L.; Flanagan, Kathryn A. Proc. SPIE, Volume 7011, pp. 701139-701139-8 (2008)

  33. Barbera, Marco; Mineo, Teresa; Perinati, Emanuele; Schnopper, Herbert W.; Spiga, Daniele; Taibi, Angelo Spiral conical approximations to double reflection Wolter optics.   Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2008: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray. Edited by Turner, Martin J. L.; Flanagan, Kathryn A. Proc. SPIE, Volume 7011, pp. 701136-701136-7 (2008)

  34. U. L. Cicero, C. Arnone, M. Barbera, A. Collura, G. Lullo e S. Varisco, «Planar array technology for the fabrication of germanium X-ray microcalorimeters,» IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, p. 1789–1792, 2008.

  35. Perinati, E.; Barbera, M.; Beeman, J.; Collura, A.; Dumoulin, L.; Pigot, C.; Piro, L.; Silver, E.; Varisco, S. Test of x-ray microcalorimeters with bilayer absorbers.   High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy III. Edited by Dorn, David A.; Holland, Andrew D. Proc. SPIE, Volume 7021, pp. 70211M-70211M-7 (2008)

  36. G. Chianetta, C. Arnone, M. Barbera, J. Beeman, A. Collura, G. Lullo, E. Perinati, E. Silver, “A fully planar approach to the construction of X-Ray microcalorimeters with doped Germanium sensors”, 2008, Journal of Low Temperature Physics, Volume 151, Issue 1-2, pp. 387-393.

  37. L. Ferrari, F. Gatti, D. Pergolesi, M. Ribeiro Gomes, D. Bagliani, R. Valle, S. Dussoni, L. Piro, L. Colasanti, C. Macculi, M. Barbera, E. Perinati, “Study of microcalorimeters for astrophysics applications”, 2008, Journal of Low Temperature Physics, Volume 151, Issue 1-2, pp. 271-276.

  38. M. Barbera, R. Candia, A. Collura, G. Di Cicca, S. Varisco, C. Zhang, H. Wang, J. Yang, W. Peng, X. Cui, X. Cao, X. Liang, “Calibration of the CHANG’E-1 x-ray fluorescence imaging spectrometer at INAF-OAPA”, 2007a, Proc. SPIE, 6686, 15, 1-13.

  39. I. Sakurai, Y. Tawara, J.W. den Herder, M. Barbera, G. Cusumano, T. Mineo, E.G. Perinati, “Design and optimization of the wide-field spectrometer for EDGE mission”, 2007, Proc. SPIE, 6688, 09, 1-8.

  40. A. Taibi, M. Barbera, G. Pareschi, H.W. Schnopper, G. Sironi, R. Valtolina. “Characterization of thin plastic foils for applications in x-ray optics technology”, 2007, Proc. SPIE, 6688, 1B, 1-8.

  41. A. Collura, P. Attinà, M. Barbera, A. Ferri, G. Pareschi, E.G. Perinati, F.R. Powell, “Thermal shielding of the SIMBOL-X mirror assembly”, 2007, Proc. SPIE, 6688, 0E, 1-5.

  42. V. Cotroneo, G. Pareschi, D. Spiga, M. Barbera, S.E. Romaine, R.J. Bruni, “Light material coatings for soft-x-ray reflectivity enhancement”, 2007, Proc. SPIE, 6688, OU, 1-10.

  43. M. Barbera, T. Mineo, E. G. Perinati, A. Taibi, H. W. Schnopper, “Thin plastic foil X-ray optics with spiral geometry”, 2007b, Proc. SPIE, 6688, 15, 1-13.

  44. L. Golub, E. Deluca, G. Austin, J. Bookbinder, D. Caldwell, P. Cheimets, J. Cirtain, M. Cosmo, P. Reid, A. Sette, M. Weber, T. Sakao, R. Kano, K. Shibasaki, H. Hara, S. Tsuneta, K. Kumagai, T. Tamura, M. Shimojo, J. McCracken, J. Carpenter, H. Haight, R. Siler, E. Wright, J. Tucker, H. Rutledge, M. Barbera, G. Peres, S. Varisco, “The X-Ray Telescope (XRT) for the Hinode Mission”, 2007, Solar Physics, 243, 63-86

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