We have succeeded in operating a transition-edge sensor (TES) spectrometer and evaluating its performance at the SPring-8 synchrotron x-ray light source. The TES spectrometer consists of a 240 pixel National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) TES system, and 220 pixels are operated simultaneously with an energy resolution of 4 eV at 6 keV at a rate of ∼1 c/s pixel−1. The tolerance for high count rates is evaluated in terms of energy resolution and live time fraction, leading to an empirical compromise of ∼2 × 103 c/s (all pixels) with an energy resolution of 5 eV at 6 keV. By utilizing the TES’s wideband spectroscopic capability, simultaneous multi-element analysis is demonstrated for a standard sample. We conducted x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) analysis in fluorescence mode using the TES spectrometer. The excellent energy resolution of the TES enabled us to detect weak fluorescence lines from dilute samples and trace elements that have previously been difficult to resolve due to the nearly overlapping emission lines of other dominant elements. The neighboring lines of As Kα and Pb Lα2 of the standard sample were clearly resolved, and the XANES of Pb Lα2 was obtained. Moreover, the x-ray spectrum from the small amount of Fe in aerosols was distinguished from the spectrum of a blank target, which helps us to understand the targets and the environment. These results are the first important step for the application of high resolution TES-based spectroscopy at hard x-ray synchrotron facilities.
Broadband high-energy resolution hard x-ray spectroscopy using transition edge sensors at SPring-8
Also at: Cluster for Pioneering Research, RIKEN, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
Also at: Nishina Center, RIKEN, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
Shinya Yamada, Yuto Ichinohe, Hideyuki Tatsuno, Ryota Hayakawa, Hirotaka Suda, Takaya Ohashi, Yoshitaka Ishisaki, Tomoya Uruga, Oki Sekizawa, Kiyofumi Nitta, Yoshio Takahashi, Takaaki Itai, Hiroki Suga, Makoto Nagasawa, Masato Tanaka, Minako Kurisu, Tadashi Hashimoto, Douglas Bennett, Ed Denison, William Bertrand Doriese, Malcolm Durkin, Joseph Fowler, Galen O’Neil, Kelsey Morgan, Dan Schmidt, Daniel Swetz, Joel Ullom, Leila Vale, Shinji Okada, Takuma Okumura, Toshiyuki Azuma, Toru Tamagawa, Tadaaki Isobe, Satoshi Kohjiro, Hirofumi Noda, Keigo Tanaka, Akimichi Taguchi, Yuki Imai, Kosuke Sato, Tasuku Hayashi, Teruhiko Kashiwabara, Kohei Sakata; Broadband high-energy resolution hard x-ray spectroscopy using transition edge sensors at SPring-8. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 1 January 2021; 92 (1): 013103. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0020642
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