The IXPE Instrument Calibration Equipment
Journal
Date Issued
2022
Author(s)
Fabio Muleri
•
Raffaele Piazzolla
•
•
•
Fabio La Monaca
•
Carlo Lefevre
•
Alfredo Morbidini
•
John Rankin
•
Paolo Soffitta
•
Antonino Tobia
•
Fei Xie
•
Fabrizio Amici
•
Primo Attinà
•
Matteo Bachetti
•
Daniele Brienza
•
Mauro Centrone
•
Enrico Costa
•
Ettore Del Monte
•
Sergio Di Cosimo
•
Giuseppe Di Persio
•
Yuri Evangelista
•
Riccardo Ferrazzoli
•
Pasqualino Loffredo
•
Matteo Perri
•
Maura Pilia
•
Simonetta Puccetti
•
Ajay Ratheesh
•
Alda Rubini
•
Francesco Santoli
•
Emanuele Scalise
•
Alessio Trois
Abstract
The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer is a mission dedicated to the
measurement of X-ray polarization from tens of astrophysical sources belonging
to different classes. Expected to be launched at the end of 2021, the payload
comprises three mirrors and three focal plane imaging polarimeters, the latter
being designed and built in Italy. While calibration is always an essential
phase in the development of high-energy space missions, for IXPE it has been
particularly extensive both to calibrate the response to polarization, which is
peculiar to IXPE, and to achieve a statistical uncertainty below the expected
sensitivity. In this paper we present the calibration equipment that was
designed and built at INAF-IAPS in Rome, Italy, for the calibration of the
polarization-sensitive focal plane detectors on-board IXPE. Equipment includes
calibration sources, both polarized and unpolarized, stages to align and move
the beam, test detectors and their mechanical assembly. While all these
equipments were designed to fit the specific needs of the IXPE Instrument
calibration, their versatility could also be used in the future for other
projects.
Volume
136
Start page
102658
Issn Identifier
0927-6505
Rights
open.access
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
1-s2.0-S0927650521000918-main.pdf
Description
[Administrators only]
Size
7.13 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
bc430f7048585a527cc9471b075adf74
Loading...
Name
Muleri2022.pdf
Description
preprint
Size
2.05 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
eb2d20eb8f6a836b3a84343c7d917191