The IXPE Instrument Calibration Equipment

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.

17 pages, 25 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Analyzing the Data from X-ray Polarimeters with Stokes Parameters
• Design, Construction, and Test of the Gas Pixel Detectors for the IXPE Mission
• A Sealed Gas Pixel Detector for X-ray Astronomy
• Direct reading of charge multipliers with a self-triggering CMOS analog chip with 105k pixels at 50 micron pitch
• In-flight calibration system of Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer
• A very compact polarizer for an X-ray polarimeter calibration

Cited by in corpus (3)

• A weighted analysis to improve the X-ray polarization sensitivity of IXPE
• Equalizing the Pixel Response of the Imaging Photoelectric Polarimeter On-Board the IXPE Mission
• Polarization properties of X-ray tubes used for Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer calibration