金丸 善朗

Xtend is a soft x-ray imaging telescope developed for the x-ray imaging and spectroscopy mission (XRISM). XRISM is scheduled to be launched in the Japanese fiscal year 2022. Xtend consists of the soft x-ray imager (SXI), an x-ray CCD camera, and the x-ray mirror assembly (XMA), a thin-foil-nested conically approximated Wolter-I optics. The SXI uses the P-channel, back-illuminated type CCD with an imaging area size of 31mm on a side. The four CCD chips are arranged in a 2×2 grid and can be cooled down to -120 °C with a single-stage Stirling cooler. The XMA nests thin aluminum foils coated with gold in a confocal way with an outer diameter of 45 cm. A pre-collimator is installed in front of the x-ray mirror for the reduction of the stray light. Combining the SXI and XMA with a focal length of 5.6m, a field of view of 38′ × 38′ over the energy range from 0.4 to 13 keV is realized. We have completed the fabrication of the flight model of both SXI and XMA. The performance verification has been successfully conducted in a series of sub-system level tests. We also carried out on-ground calibration measurements and the data analysis is ongoing.

X-ray Imaging Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) is the next Japanese X-ray astronomical satellite to be launched in 2021 Japanese fiscal year. We are developing one of the XRISM instruments “Xtend”, which is an X-ray CCD camera combined with an X-ray telescope, and achieves the wide field of view of 38′×38′ in 0.4–13keV. In 2019, twelve flight-model (FM) candidate CCD chips were fabricated by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. We conducted screening experiments to examine whether the FM candidates met requirements for the Xtend CCDs, and selected the four FM chips from them. We constructed a screening system, with which we can examine various CCD performances by illuminating characteristic X-ray lines in a ∼0.5–14keV band or optical lights. With this system, all the twelve candidates were confirmed to satisfy the requirements. We then selected four chips with the best performance, in terms of e.g., their charge transfer inefficiencies, energy resolutions, soft X-ray sensitivities, and optical light leakages. In this paper, we report an overview of the screening system, and procedures and results of the screening process.

We present experimental studies on the charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) of charge-coupled device (CCD) developed for the soft X-ray imaging telescope, Xtend, aboard the XRISM satellite. The CCD is equipped with a charge injection (CI) capability, in which sacrificial charge is periodically injected to fill the charge traps. By evaluating the re-emission of the trapped charge observed behind the CI rows, we find that there are at least three trap populations with different time constants. The traps with the shortest time constant, which is equivalent to a transfer time of approximately one pixel, are mainly responsible for the trailing charge of an X-ray event seen in the following pixel. A comparison of the trailing charge in two clocking modes reveals that the CTI depends not only on the transfer time but also on the area, namely the imaging or storage area. We construct a new CTI model by taking into account both transfer-time and area dependence. This model reproduces the data obtained in both clocking modes consistently. We also examine apparent flux dependence of the CTI observed without the CI technique. The higher incident X-ray flux is, the lower the CTI value becomes. It is due to a sacrificial charge effect by another X-ray photon. This effect is found to be negligible when the CI technique is used.

This paper reports on the development of on-chip pattern processing in the event-driven silicon-on-insulator pixel detector for X-ray astronomy with background rejection purpose. X-ray charge-coupled device (CCD) detectors, well-established pixel detectors used in this field, has proven that classification of detected events considering their spatial pattern is effective for particle background rejection. Based on the current architecture of our device and from the CCD images obtained in space, we first established a design concept and algorithm of the pattern processor to be implemented. Then, we developed a new device, including a prototype pattern-processing circuit. Experiments using X-ray and beta-ray radioisotopes demonstrated that the pattern processor properly works as expected, and the particle background rejection is realized in an on-chip fashion. This function is useful, especially in a limited-resource system such as the CubeSat.

We have been developing P-channel Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) for the upcoming X-ray Astronomy Satellite XRISM, planned to be launched in 2021. While the basic design of the CCD camera (Soft X-ray Imager: SXI) is almost the same as that of the lost Hitomi (ASTRO-H) observatory, we are planning to reduce the phenomenon of “light leakages” that is one of the largest problems recognized in Hitomi data. We adopted a double-layer optical blocking layer on the XRISM CCDs and also added an extra aluminum layer on the backside of them. We develop a newly designed test sample CCD and irradiate it with optical light to evaluate the optical blocking performance. As a result, light leakages are effectively reduced compared with that of the Hitomi CCDs. We thus conclude that the issue is solved by the new design and that the XRISM CCDs satisfy the mission requirement for the SXI.

We report X-ray spectroscopic results for four giant solar flares that occurred on 2005 September 7 (X17.0), 2005 September 8 (X5.4), 2005 September 9 (X6.2), and 2006 December 5 (X9.0), obtained from Earth albedo data with the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS) on board Suzaku. The good energy resolution of the XIS (FWHM ∼ 100 eV) enables us to separate a number of line-like features and detect the underlying continuum emission. These features include Si Heα, Si Lyα, S Heα, S Lyα, Ar Heα, and Ca Heα originating from solar flares as well as fluorescent Ar Kα and Ar Kβ from the Earth's atmosphere. Absolute elemental abundances (X/H) averaged over the four flares are obtained to be ∼2.0 (Ca), ∼0.7 (Si), ∼0.3 (S), and ∼0.9 (Ar) at around flare peaks. This abundance pattern is similar to those of active stars' coronae showing inverse first ionization potential (i-FIP) effects, i.e., elemental abundances decrease with decreasing FIP with a turnover at the low end of the FIP. The abundances are almost constant during the flares, with the exception of Si which increases by a factor of ∼2 in the decay phase. The evolution of the Si abundance is consistent with the finding that the i-FIP plasma originates from chromospheric evaporation and then mixes with the surrounding low-FIP biased materials. Flare-to-flare abundance varied by a factor of two, agreeing with past observations of solar flares. Finally, we emphasize that Earth albedo data acquired by X-ray astronomy satellites like Suzaku and the X-Ray Imaging Spectroscopy Mission can significantly contribute to studies of solar physics.

Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) is the X-ray CCD camera onboard X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) that is scheduled to be launched in Japanese fiscal year 2022. Combining the SXI with an X-ray mirror assembly, we realize the Soft X-ray Imaging Telescope (Xtend) with a focal length of 5.6 m and a field of view of 38 arcmin square. The high quantum efficiency of the focal-plane sensor, P-channel back-illumination type CCD, brings about the wide effective energy range from 0.4 to 13 keV with moderate energy resolution. Although the design of the SXI for XRISM is basically identical to that for Hitomi satellite, we have applied several improvements to the CCDs in terms of the charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) and the optical blocking performance. For the former issue, we introduce a notch implant in the charge transfer path to reduce the CTI increase in orbit. For the latter, we change the design of aluminum layers on the incident surface of the CCDs to decrease incoming visible light and/or infrared. Four flight model (FM) CCDs have been selected considering several items including energy resolution at 5.9 keV, CTI, dark current, etc. We have also completed calibration campaign for all the FM CCDs. Initial analyses show that the response function for monochromatic X-rays is basically the same as that of Hitomi CCDs. Front-end ASIC have been confirmed to properly function even after the long-term storage after the manufacture for Hitomi SXI. Then the analog electronics for driving CCDs and for processing the output analog signals have been implemented. Their functional tests have been completed with no problem. The focal plane including the single-stage Stirling cooler has been assembled. Production of key parts in SXI sensor body such as contamination blocking filter and onboard calibration source has been finished and they are waiting for assemble. The digitized signals of the CCD are corrected step by step before conversion to X-ray energy. We are preparing calibration database for the correction such as CTI, gain, and line redistribution function.

X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) is the seventh Japanese X-ray astronomical satellite scheduled to be launched in the Japanese fiscal year 2022. XRISM has two mission instruments, “Resolve”, a soft X-ray spectrometer, and “Xtend”, a soft X-ray imager. The Former is an X-ray micro-calorimeter that has ∼ 5 eV of energy resolution with 3′ × 3′ of field of view. The Latter is an X-ray CCD camera with 38′ × 38′ of field of view. Both instruments are placed on the focal plane of X-ray telescopes, X-ray Mirror Assembly (XMA). Xtend CCDs are designed almost the same as those of Hitomi (ASTRO-H), whereas some improvements have been applied. In 2019, flight-model (FM) candidates of Xtend CCDs were fabricated by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. We performed screening experiments to examine whether they met requirements or not, and then selected the best four chips as the FM. We then performed on-ground calibration on August 2019 and September 2019 for the FM chips to determine the gain correction parameters and to construct the detector response with several energies of monochromatic X-ray. In this paper, we report screening, selection, and on-ground calibration processes, especially focusing on the response verification.

We report the radiation hardness of a p-channel CCD developed for the X-ray CCD camera onboard the XRISM satellite. This CCD has basically the same characteristics as the one used in the previous Hitomi satellite, but newly employs a notch structure of potential for signal charges by increasing the implant concentration in the channel . The new device was exposed up to approximately 7.9 × 1010 protons cm-2 at 100 MeV . The charge transfer inefficiency was estimated as a function of proton fluence with an 55Fe source. A device without the notch structure was also examined for comparison. The result shows that the notch device has a significantly higher radiation hardness than those without the notch structure including the device adopted for Hitomi. This proves that the new CCD is radiation tolerant for space applications with a sufficient margin.

X-ray Astronomy Recovery Mission (XARM) scheduled to be launched in early 2020's carries two soft X-ray telescopes. One is Resolve consisting of a soft X-ray mirror and a micro calorimeter array, and the other is Soft X-ray Imaging Telescope (Xtend), a combination of an X-ray mirror assembly (XMA) and an X-ray CCD camera (SXI). Xtend covers a field of view (FOV) of 38′ × 38′, much larger than that of Resolve (3′ × 3 ′) with moderate energy resolution in the energy band from 0.4 keV to 13 keV, which is similar to that of Resolve (from 0.3 keV to 12 keV). Simultaneous observations of both telescopes provide complimentary data of X-ray sources in their FOV. In particular, monitoring X-ray sources outside the Resolve FOV but inside the Xtend FOV is important to enhance the reliability of super high resolution spectra obtained with Resolve. Xtend is also expected to be one of the best instruments for low surface brightness X-ray emissions with its low non X-ray background level, which is comparable to that of Suzaku XIS. The design of Xtend is almost identical to those of Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) and Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) both on board the Hitomi satellite. However, several mandatory updates are included. Updates for the CCD chips are verified with experiment using test CCD chips before finalizing the design of the flight model CCD. Fabrication of the foils for XMA has started, and flight model production of the SXI is almost ready.