E. Leblanc et al., BOLOMETER CHARACTERIZATION WITH A SPECIALLY DEVELOPED CRYOGENIC SOURCE HAVING MORE THAN 5 PEAKS IN THE 1-6 KEV RANGE, Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment, 370(1), 1996, pp. 208-210
At very low temperature (10-50 mK), and at relatively low energy (typi
cally 100 eV-10 keV), the linearity and resolution of bolometers need
to be carefully tested. Commercially available sources below 6 keV are
rare and difficult to cool down. We have developed a specially design
ed compact X-ray source where Fe-55 is combined with an ion-exchanged
membrane containing more than three fluorescent elements. More than fi
ve peaks can be identified form 1 keV to 6.5 keV. A spectrum obtained
with a 0.5 mg composite diamond bolometer, allowing a good measurement
of linearity and resolution as a function of energy is presented. It
is compared with a spectrum of the same source measured with a classic
al germanium detector. Since bolometer detectors have neither window,
nor dead layer effects, bolometer spectra obtained with these sources
could be used to directly calibrate the efficiency response of classic
al detectors at very low energy.