The High Definition X-ray Imager (HDXI) Instrument on the Lynx X-Ray Surveyor

TL;DR

The HDXI instrument on Lynx aims to provide high-resolution, wide-field soft X-ray imaging with fast frame rates, leveraging silicon sensors for improved efficiency, to enable advanced astrophysical observations.

Contribution

This paper details the design, capabilities, and development status of the HDXI instrument, a novel high-resolution X-ray imager for the Lynx mission.

Findings

HDXI will achieve <0.5 arcsec angular resolution.

It will cover a 22x22 arcmin field of view.

The instrument will operate at high frame rates to prevent event pile-up.

Abstract

The Lynx X-ray Surveyor Mission is one of 4 large missions being studied by NASA Science and Technology Definition Teams as mission concepts to be evaluated by the upcoming 2020 Decadal Survey. By utilizing optics that couple fine angular resolution (<0.5 arcsec HPD) with large effective area (~2 m^2 at 1 keV), Lynx would enable exploration within a unique scientific parameter space. One of the primary soft X-ray imaging instruments being baselined for this mission concept is the High Definition X-ray Imager, HDXI. This instrument would achieve fine angular resolution imaging over a wide field of view (~ 22 x 22 arcmin, or larger) by using a finely-pixelated silicon sensor array. Silicon sensors enable large-format/small-pixel devices, radiation tolerant designs, and high quantum efficiency across the entire soft X-ray bandpass. To fully exploit the large collecting area of Lynx (~30x Chandra), without X-ray event pile-up, the HDXI will be capable of much faster frame rates than current X-ray imagers. The planned requirements, capabilities, and development status of the HDXI will be described.