Development of a Real-Time Pulse Processing Algorithm for TES-Based X-Ray Microcalorimeters

• Published in: IEEE transactions on applied superconductivity Vol. 21; no. 3; pp. 276 - 280
• Main Authors: Hui Tan, Hennig, W, Warburton, W K, Doriese, W B, Kilbourne, C A
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.06.2011; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Algorithm; Algorithms; Applied sciences; Arrays; Circuit properties; Detectors; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electromagnets; Electronic circuits; Electronics; Energy resolution; Exact sciences and technology; Frequency filters; Hardware; Input-output equipment; Microcalorimeters; Multiplexing; optimal filter; Pixels; Real time; Real time systems; real-time pulse processing; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Shape; Signal processing algorithms; Studies; Superconducting devices; Superconductivity; transition-edge sensors; Various equipment and components; X-rays; Performance evaluation; High resolution; Calorimeter; real-time pulse processing; Optimal filter; Measurement sensor; Time division multiplexing; Mean value; Algorithm; Readout electronics; Implementation; Transfer processing; Computer hardware; High energy; User interface; Energy resolution; Superconducting quantum interferometer device; microcalorimeters; Real time processing; Edge detection; Superconducting transition; transition-edge sensors
• ISSN: 1051-8223; 1558-2515
• DOI: 10.1109/TASC.2010.2082473

We report here a real-time pulse processing algorithm for superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) based x-ray microcalorimeters. TES-based microcalorimeters offer ultra-high energy resolutions, but the small volume of each pixel requires that large arrays of identical microcalorimeter pixels be built to achieve sufficient detection efficiency. That in turn requires as much pulse processing as possible must be performed at the front end of readout electronics to avoid transferring large amounts of data to a host computer for post-processing. Therefore, a real-time pulse processing algorithm that not only can be implemented in the readout electronics but also achieve satisfactory energy resolutions is desired. We have developed an algorithm that can be easily implemented in hardware. We then tested the algorithm offline using several data sets acquired with an 8 × 8 Goddard TES x-ray calorimeter array and 2 ×16 NIST time-division SQUID multiplexer. We obtained an average energy resolution of close to 3.0 eV at 6 keV for the multiplexed pixels while preserving over 99% of the events in the data sets.