Performance of an x-ray microcalorimeter under ac biasing

Abstract

Frequency domain multiplexing (FDM) is an attractive option for the readout of imaging arrays of microcalorimeters. Implementation of FDM requires ac biasing of the individual microcalorimeters. In this letter we present a small signal model for the behavior of a microcalorimeter under ac bias. Moreover, we have measured the behavior of the same microcalorimeter under ac (at 46 kHz) and dc bias. These experiments show that the performance of the device is very similar in terms of energy resolution, pulse shapes, and current–voltage characteristics. The measured energy resolution at 5.89 keV is 6.9 eV for ac bias and 5.5 eV for dc bias. The effective time constant in both cases is 100 μs.