Microcalorimeters Are No Longer a Laboratory Curiosity
Eric Silver, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
2:30 PM
Building 151, Room 1209
(Stevenson Conference Room)Abstract:

Abstract:
High resolving power, a bandwidth that can span 0.1-70 keV and low internal background are the hallmarks of cryogenic x-ray microcalorimeters. Originally developed for x-ray spectroscopy of cosmic sources, microcalorimeters are now being used for a wide range of scientific and industrial applications here on Earth. We are currently using this new tool for laboratory astrophysics studies of highly charged ions in an electron beam ion trap, measurements of the Lamb Shift in hydrogenic gold and uranium and for x-ray microanalysis in conjunction with scanning electron microscopy. In addition, we are building detector arrays for soft x-ray astronomy satellite missions and a hard x-ray balloon-borne experiment to measure nuclear line emission from stellar sources. We discuss the important features of our detector technology and review some of our experimental results.