The Large Area Detector onboard the eXTP mission
astro-ph.IM
/ Authors
Marco Feroci, Mahdi Ahangarianabhari, Giovanni Ambrosi, Filippo Ambrosino, Andrea Argan, Marco Barbera, Joerg Bayer, Pierluigi Bellutti, Bruna Bertucci, Giuseppe Bertuccio
and 61 more authors
Giacomo Borghi, Enrico Bozzo, Franck Cadoux, Riccardo Campana, Francesco Ceraudo, Tianxiang Chen, Daniela Cirrincione, Alessandra De Rosa, Ettore Del Monte, Sergio Di Cosimo, Sebastian Diebold, Yuri Evangelista, Qingmei Fan, Yannick Favre, Francesco Ficorella, Fabio Fuschino, Olivier Gevin, Marco Grassi, Bin Hong, Hanqi Mao, Vladimir Karas, Tom Kennedy, Claudio Labanti
/ Abstract
The eXTP (enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry) mission is a major project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and China National Space Administration (CNSA) currently performing an extended phase A study and proposed for a launch by 2025 in a low-earth orbit. The eXTP scientific payload envisages a suite of instruments (Spectroscopy Focusing Array, Polarimetry Focusing Array, Large Area Detector and Wide Field Monitor) offering unprecedented simultaneous wide-band X-ray spectral, timing and polarimetry sensitivity. A large European consortium is contributing to the eXTP study and it is expected to provide key hardware elements, including a Large Area Detector (LAD). The LAD instrument for eXTP is based on the design originally proposed for the LOFT mission within the ESA context. The eXTP/LAD envisages a deployed 3.4 m2 effective area in the 2-30 keV energy range, achieved through the technology of the large-area Silicon Drift Detectors - offering a spectral resolution of up to 200 eV FWHM at 6 keV - and of capillary plate collimators - limiting the field of view to about 1 degree. In this paper we provide an overview of the LAD instrument design, including new elements with respect to the earlier LOFT configuration.