Recent developments in transition-edge strip detectors for solar x-rays

摘要

LMSAL and NIST are developing position-sensitive x-ray strip detectors based on Transition Edge Sensor (TES) microcalorimeters optimized for solar physics. By combining high spectral (E/△E ～1600) and temporal (single photon △t ～10μs) resolutions with imaging capabilities, these devices will be able to study high-temperature (>10 MK) x-ray lines as never before. Diagnostics from these lines should provide significant new insight into the physics of both microflares and the early stages of flares. Previously, the large size of traditional TESs, along with the heat loads associated with wiring large arrays, presented obstacles to using these cryogenic detectors for solar missions. Implementing strip detector technology at small scales, however, addresses both issues: here, a line of substantially smaller effective pixels requires only two TESs, decreasing both the total array size and the wiring requirements for the same spatial resolution. Early results show energy resolutions of △E_(FWHM) ～30eV and spatial resolutions of～10-15 μm, suggesting the strip-detector concept is viable.