The Demonstration Model of the ATHENA X-IFU Cryogenic AntiCoincidence Detector

TL;DR

This paper presents the development and testing of a prototype Cryogenic AntiCoincidence Detector for the ATHENA X-IFU mission, demonstrating its critical technological capabilities in background reduction.

Contribution

It introduces the CryoAC Demonstration Model, validating key technologies like the suspended absorber, low energy threshold, and low power operation.

Findings

The AC-S10 prototype meets all specified requirements.

The detector operates effectively at 50 mK with minimal power dissipation.

The suspended absorber design is successfully implemented.

Abstract

The Cryogenic AntiCoincidence Detector (CryoAC) of ATHENA X-IFU is designed to reduce the particle background of the instrument and to enable the mission science goals. It is a 4 pixel silicon microcalorimeter sensed by an Ir/Au TES network. We have developed the CryoAC Demonstration Model, a prototype aimed to probe the critical technologies of the detector, i.e. the suspended absorber with an active area of 1 cm2; the low energy threshold of 20 keV; and the operation connected to a 50 mK thermal bath with a power dissipation less than 40 nW. Here we report the test performed on the first CryoAC DM sample (namely the AC-S10 prototype), showing that it is fully compliant with its requirements.