Micro-fabricated Magnetic Microcalorimeter Development for X-ray Astronomy

摘要

X-ray microcalorimeters using magnetic sensors show great promise for use in astronomical x-ray spectroscopy. We have begun to develop technology for fabricating arrays of magnetic calorimeters for X-ray astronomy. The magnetization change in each pixel of the paramagnetic sensor material due to the heat input of an absorbed x-ray is sensed by a meander shaped coil. With this geometry it is possible to obtain excellent energy sensitivity, low magnetic cross-talk and large format arrays fabricated on wafers that are separate from the SQUID read-out. We report on the results from our prototype arrays, which are coupled to low noise 2-stage SQUIDs developed at the PTB Berlin. The first testing results are presented and the sensitivity compared with calculations.