Microwave SQUID readout technology to enable Lynx and other future Great Observatories

In 2013, NASA's Astrophysics Roadmap "Enduring Quests, Daring Vision" identified as one of its large strategic mission concepts a new X-ray surveyor as critical to the advancement of our knowledge of astrophysics and astronomy. The X-ray surveyor, now known as Lynx, is an X-ray telescope to be considered at NASA's 2020 Astrophysics Large Mission Concept Decadal Survey. The majority of the baryonic matter in the universe is visible in either x-ray emission or absorption, and with its high angular resolution and large field of view Lynx will enable unique astrophysical observations, making it a powerful tool for understanding the origins of the cosmos. In order to provide the greatest scientific capability, the detector package for Lynx has been proposed with an aggressive combination of pixel sensitivity and a large number of pixels. The development of the superconducting detectors and the multiplexing schemes to read them out is critical work to enable Lynx, and will benefit a host of other astronomical applications. The central objective of the proposed work is to prove the hybrid combination of hydra-style transition-edge sensors (from NASA) and microwave SQUID multiplexers (from NIST) before the decadal survey. These devices have never been combined, and while there are no obvious technical obstacles and the components have been demonstrated separately (TRL3), we must demonstrate the combination in order to establish the credibility of the technology (TRL4) for the decadal survey. The need for this work was called out as a technology gap "Large-format, high-spectral-resolution, small-pixel X-ray focal plane arrays" identified in the PCOS Annual Technology Report. We propose to first demonstrate the key features of hydra pixels with microwave SQUID multiplexers, and to subsequently perform a direct demonstration of a hybrid scheme with a Lynx-relevant number of pixels per readout channel. In addition, to simplify the detector array readout and ease the risk of high multiplexing factors we will improve readout algorithms, and to enable the extended array we will attempt to reduce the footprint of the readout circuit.

The Strategic Astrophysics Technology program (SAT) supports focused development efforts for key technologies to the point at which they are ready to feed into major missions in the three science themes of the Astrophysics Division: Exoplanet Exploration, Cosmic Origins, and the Physics of the Cosmos. This program is specifically designed to address middle technology readiness level (TRL) "gaps" between levels 3 and 6: the maturation of technologies that have been established as feasible, but which are not yet sufficiently mature to incorporate into flight missions without introducing an unacceptable level of risk. NASA does not require a data management plan for proposals to SAT.

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