Pulse processing in TES detectors: comparison of different short filter methods based on optimal filtering. Case study for Athena X-IFU

Abstract: In the framework of the ESA Athena mission, the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) instrument to be on board the X-ray Athena Observatory is a cryogenic micro-calorimeter array of Transition Edge Sensor (TES) detectors aimed at providing spatially resolved high-resolution spectroscopy. As a part of the on-board Event Processor (EP), the reconstruction software will provide the energy, spatial location and arrival time of the incoming X-ray photons hitting the detector and inducing current pulses on it. Being the standard optimal filtering technique the chosen baseline reconstruction algorithm, different modifications have been analyzed to process pulses shorter than those considered of high resolution (those where the full length is not available due to a close pulse after them) in order to select the best option based on energy resolution and computing performance results. It can be concluded that the best approach to optimize the energy resolution for short filters is the 0-padding filtering technique, benefiting also from a reduction in the computational resources. However, its high sensitivity to offset fluctuations currently prevents its use as the baseline treatment for the X-IFU application for lack of consolidated information on the actual stability it will get in flight.