Bolometer characterisation with a specially developed cryogenic source having more than five peaks in the 1-6 keV range

At very low temperature (10-50 mK), and at relatively low energy (typically 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 designed compact X-ray source where ⁵⁵Fe is combined with an ion-exchanged membrane containing more than three fluorescent elements. More than five 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 classical 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 classical detectors at very low energy.