A brief overview of the Fusion and Astrophysics Data and Diagnostic Calibration Facility

Abstract

The Fusion and Astrophysics (FAST) Data and Diagnostic Calibration Facility located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a state-of-the-art facility used to calibrate radiation based diagnostics and study atomic processes for investigating fusion and astrophysical plasmas. FAST has at its disposal a full suite of radiation generation and detection devices, including two electron beam ion traps: EBIT-I and SuperEBIT and an absolutely calibrated x-ray calorimeter spectrometer. FAST covers the energy range between 0.01 and 100 keV, and can thus be used to calibrate a variety of plasma diagnostics. Instrument parameters that can be calibrated include line profiles, transmission and reflection efficiencies, and the quantum efficiency of grating and crystal spectrometers and solid state detectors. FAST can be used to test fully integrated instrumentation, and is ideal for spectrometers and detectors to be flown on orbiting observatories, sounding rockets, used as ground support equipment to verify flight instrumentation, in laboratory astrophysics experiments, and to diagnose magnetic and inertial confinement fusion plasmas. Here we present an overview of the calibration capabilities of this facility including some results.

Performance of a Broad-Band, High-Resolution, Transition-Edge Sensor Spectrometer for X-ray Astrophysics

“…Since then, the multiplexer chips have been further optimized specifically for X-IFU and the system has been reconfigured to have identical TDM chips populating all 8 columns. Once complete, this 252-pixel instrument will be deployed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT) facility as part of our laboratory astrophysics program [8], [9]. The study of highly ionized plasmas in controlled laboratory conditions provides essential input to atomic models [10], which are used to support of current and future satellite missions, including Athena.…”

Development of the microcalorimeter and anticoincidence detector for the Line Emission Mapper x-ray probe

“…The sources will be independently calibrated as transfer standards using an electron beam ion trap. 40 In addition, channel-cut crystal monochromators 41 will be used to measure both the core and extended line spread function. Like XRISM and Athena, LEM will use a MXS to track on-orbit time dependent drifts in the detector gain.…”

“…Fluorescent target sources will be used for energy scale and line spread function calibration. The sources will be independently calibrated as transfer standards using an electron beam ion trap 40 . In addition, channel-cut crystal monochromators 41 will be used to measure both the core and extended line spread function.…”

Calibration of a flat field soft x-ray grating spectrometer for laser produced plasmas

“…Eighteen of the channels are optimized for the detection of photon with energies between 0.1 and 15 keV, and thirteen are optimized for photons between 15 and 100 keV. The low energy channels used here have absorbers with an area of 0.624 × 0.624 µm 2 and a thickness of 8 µm. The energy resolution of the lower energy channels is ~4.5 eV at 6 keV.…”