The 100-m X-ray Test Facility at IHEP

TL;DR

The 100-m X-ray Test Facility at IHEP is a large-scale setup designed for testing and calibrating X-ray detectors and mirrors for space missions, supporting energies from 0.2 to 60 keV over a 105-meter vacuum tube.

Contribution

This paper introduces the design, configuration, and calibration capabilities of the new 100-m X-ray Test Facility at IHEP, supporting advanced X-ray space instrumentation.

Findings

Successfully tested and calibrated X-ray mirror modules for multiple space missions.

Characterized focal plane cameras and filters used in space X-ray telescopes.

Demonstrated the facility's capability to support future X-ray mission development.

Abstract

The 100-m X-ray Test Facility of the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) was initially proposed in 2012 for the test and calibration of the X-ray detectors of the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) with the capability to support future X-ray missions. The large instrument chamber connected with a long vacuum tube can accommodate the X-ray mirror, focal plane detector and other instruments. The X-ray sources are installed at the other end of the vacuum tube with a distance of 105 m, which can provide an almost parallel X-ray beam covering 0.2$\sim$60 keV energy band. The X-ray mirror modules of the Einstein Probe (EP) and the enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry mission (eXTP) and payload of the Gravitational wave high-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM) have been tested and calibrated with this facility. It has been also used to characterize the focal plane camera and aluminum filter used on the Einstein Probe. In this paper, we will introduce the overall configuration and capability of the facility, and give a brief introduction of some calibration results performed with this facility.