HEL1OS -- A Hard X-ray Spectrometer on Board Aditya-L1

TL;DR

HEL1OS is a spectrometer on the Aditya-L1 mission that measures solar flare X-ray spectra from 8 to 150 keV using advanced semiconductor detectors, providing high-resolution data for solar physics research.

Contribution

This paper introduces the design, ground testing, and in-orbit performance of HEL1OS, a novel high-energy X-ray spectrometer for solar observations on the Aditya-L1 mission.

Findings

Achieved spectral resolution of ~1 keV at 14 keV (CdTe) and ~7 keV at 60 keV (CZT)

Successfully demonstrated in-orbit performance aligning with pre-launch expectations

Provided continuous, time-resolved spectra of solar flares in the 8-150 keV range

Abstract

HEL1OS (High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer) is one of the remote sensing payloads on board Aditya-L1 mission designed to continuously monitor and measure the time-resolved spectra of solar flares between 8 keV and 150 keV. This broad energy range has been covered by using compound semiconductor detectors: cadmium telluride (CdTe: 8 - 70 keV) and cadmium zinc telluride (CZT: 20 - 150 keV) with geometric areas of 0.5 cm$^2$ and 32 cm$^2$, respectively. A stainless steel collimator provides a field-of-view of 6$^\circ$ $\times$ 6$^\circ$ optimized to limit the off-axis response while keeping the design within the instrument mass constraints. The in-house designed low-noise digital pulse processing-based front-end electronics has achieved a spectral resolution of $\approx$ 1 keV at 14 keV (CdTe) and $\approx$ 7 keV at 60 keV (CZT). The instrument is also equipped with processing and power electronics to process the signal, drive the electronics, bias the detectors with required low and high voltages for optimal performance of the overall system. In this article, we present design aspects of the instrument, results from the pre-launch ground-based tests, and the in-orbit operations, which have indicated optimal performance in line with that expected.