Variably polarized X-ray sources for LPD calibration

Abstract

This article presents the design and implementation of a soft X-ray polarized calibration platform based on Bragg’s Law and Fresnel’s Law, which is used to calibrate low-energy polarization detector(LPD/POLAR-2) that has potential deployment onboard the China Space Station. The platform is equipped with versatile equipment that can generate both completely and partially polarized X-ray beams, and provides precise control over the diffraction angle, achieving the desired polarization degree. It covers the 3–8 keV energy band, with a high fraction of monochromatic light (>93%)(The proportion of monochromatic light is defined as the ratio of the number of photons falling within three times the sigma of the target peak centre value to the total photons.) and good monochromaticity(In this article, we evaluate the monochromaticity of the polarized source using the Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of its all-in-one peak.), and is suitable for calibrating LPD’s large-field-of-view soft X-ray polarization detector using its vertically incident and obliquely incident polarized X-rays. The completely and partially polarized X-ray beams generated at 8.0 keV by the calibration platform are used to test the polarization measurement capabilities of the soft X-ray polarized detector and verify the linearity between the calibration source’s polarization and the measurable modulation of the polarimeter.