The Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU)

François Pajot (1) , D. Barret , T. Lam-Trong , J.-W. Den Herder , L. Piro , M. Cappi , J. Huovelin , R. Kelley , J. M. Mas-Hesse , K. Mitsuda , S. Paltani , G. Rauw , A. Rozanska , J. Wilms , M. Barbera , · F. Douchin , H. Geoffray , R. Den Hartog , M. Le Du , C. Macculi , J.-M. Mesnager , P. Peille

1 IRAP - Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie

The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) of the Advanced Telescope for High-ENergy Astrophysics (Athena) large-scale mission of ESA will provide spatially resolved high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy from 0.2 to 12 keV, with 5 pixels over a field of view of 5 arc minute equivalent diameter and a spectral resolution of 2.5 eV (FWHM) up to 7 keV. The core scientific objectives of Athena drive the main performance parameters of the X-IFU. We present the current reference configuration of the X-IFU, and the key issues driving the design of the instrument.

Domaines: Phénomènes cosmiques de haute energie [astro-ph.HE]; Instrumentation et méthodes pour l'astrophysique [astro-ph.IM]

François Pajot, D. Barret, T. Lam-Trong, J.-W. Den Herder, L. Piro, et al.. The Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU). Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 2018, ⟨10.1007/s10909-018-1904-5⟩. ⟨hal-02383539⟩