Title :
Background simulations of the wide field imager of the ATHENA X-ray observatory
Author :
Hauf, Steffen ; Kuster, Markus ; Pia, Maria Grazia ; Hoffmann, Dieter H H ; Lang, Philipp ; Neff, Stephan ; Stefanescu, Alexander ; Strüder, Lothar
Author_Institution :
Tech. Univ. Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
Abstract :
The ATHENA X-ray Observatory-IXO is a planned multinational orbiting X-ray observatory with a focal length of 11.5 m. ATHENA aims to perform pointed observations in an energy range from 0.1 keV to 15 keV with high sensitivity. For high spatial and timing resolution imaging and spectroscopic observations the 640 × 640 pixels2 large DePFET-technology based Wide field Imager (WFI) focal plane detector, providing a field of view of 18 arcsec will be the main detector. Based on the actual mechanics, thermal and shielding design we present estimates for the WFI cosmic ray induced background obtained by the use of Monte-Carlo simulations and possible background reduction measures.
Keywords :
Monte Carlo methods; X-ray detection; X-ray spectrometers; cosmic background radiation; focal planes; nuclear electronics; ATHENA X-Ray observatory; DePFET-technology; Monte-Carlo simulation; WFI cosmic ray induced background; background reduction measure; energy range; focal length; multinational orbiting X-ray observatory; sensitivity; shielding design; spatial resolution; spectroscopic observation; thermal design; timing resolution; wide field imager focal plane pixel detector; Copper; Fluorescence; Nickel; Sensitivity; Silicon carbide; Tin;
Conference_Titel :
Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC), 2011 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Valencia
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4673-0118-3
DOI :
10.1109/NSSMIC.2011.6154609
