eprintid: 1471267
rev_number: 23
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/01/47/12/67
datestamp: 2015-09-24 11:57:00
lastmod: 2021-11-16 23:14:50
status_changed: 2015-09-24 11:57:00
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Zane, S
title: LOFT — Large Observatory for X-ray Timing
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B04
divisions: C06
divisions: F63
note: Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
abstract: LOFT (the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing), is a mission concept that was considered by ESA as a candidate for an M3 mission and has been studied during an extended > 2-years long assessment phase.

The mission was specifically designed to perform fast X-ray timing and probe the status of the matter near black holes and neutron stars. The LOFT scientific payload is composed of a Large Area Detector (LAD) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM). The LAD is a 10 m2-class pointed instrument with ~ 15 times the collecting area of the largest past timing missions (as the Rossi XTE) over the 2-30 keV range (30-80 keV expanded), combined with CCD-class spectral resolution, which holds the capability to revolutionise studies of X-ray variability down to the millisecond time scales.

Its ground-breaking characteristic is a mass per unit surface in the range of ~ 10 kg/m2, enabling an effective area of ~ 10 m2 (at 10 keV) at a reasonable weight. The development of such large but light experiment, with low mass and power per unit area, is now made possible by the recent advancements in the field of large-area silicon drift detectors and capillary-plate X-ray collimators.

Although the LOFT mission has not been down-selected for launch in the M3 ESA programme (with launch in 2022-2024), during the assessment phase most of the trade off have been closed leading to a robust and well documented design which will be re-proposed in the future ESA calls. In this paper, we will summarize the characteristics of the LAD instrument and briefly describe the status of the detectors design.
date: 2014-12-01
date_type: published
official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/9/12/C12003
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1054858
doi: 10.1088/1748-0221/9/12/C12003
lyricists_name: Zane, Silvia
lyricists_id: SZANE58
actors_name: Zane, Silvia
actors_name: Barczynska, Patrycja
actors_id: SZANE58
actors_id: PBARC91
actors_role: owner
actors_role: impersonator
full_text_status: public
publication: Journal of Instrumentation
volume: 9
number: 12
article_number: C12003
issn: 1748-0221
citation:        Zane, S;      (2014)    LOFT — Large Observatory for X-ray Timing.                   Journal of Instrumentation , 9  (12)    , Article C12003.  10.1088/1748-0221/9/12/C12003 <https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221%2F9%2F12%2FC12003>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1471267/1/pdf.pdf