{
  "abstract": "Transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeters for future X-ray space observatories require accurate low-energy calibration, a regime where conventional X-ray sources are limited by intrinsic linewidth, count rate, or experimental complexity. In this work, we investigate fibercoupled optical photons as a compact calibration tool for an Athena-like TES array. Optical pulses at 405 nm were generated with an acousto-optic modulator and delivered through an optical fiber onto a selected TES pixel inside a dilution refrigerator, via a dedicated cryogenic alignment interface. Externally triggered pulses were processed with an optimal-filter pipeline, including baseline subtraction, drift correction, and multi-Gaussian reconstruction of the pulse-height spectrum. The reconstructed spectra show resolved photon-number peaks consistent with the Poissonian statistics expected from an attenuated coherent source, reaching equivalent energies above 400 eV with a mean photon number exceeding 100 per pulse. The detector response was further tested for linearity by comparing the measured photon-number distributions against those predicted from the independently calibrated number of photons sent to the detector and a single, globally estimated detection efficiency, confirming Poissonian, linear behaviour across nearly two orders of magnitude in photon number. These results demonstrate that fiber-delivered optical photons can probe the few-eV to sub-keV response of Athena-like TES microcalorimeters, offering a practical and extensible framework for future low-energy calibration studies.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "Journal reference: Sensors 2026, 26, 6788",
  "arxiv": "2610.40194",
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Giacomo Gorla"
    },
    {
      "name": "Bernard Sohl"
    },
    {
      "name": "Emanuele Taralli"
    },
    {
      "name": "Martin de Wit"
    },
    {
      "name": "Luciano Gottardi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kevin Ravensberg"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kenichiro Nagayoshi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Davide Vaccaro"
    },
    {
      "name": "Hugo van Bohemen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mio Poortvliet"
    },
    {
      "name": "Wolfgang Loeffler"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/38vqqm5p9rw6v.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.40194",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "38vqqm5p9rw6v",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.40194",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.app-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.ins-det"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.40194",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-29",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/38vqqm5p9rw6v.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:36:28Z",
      "native_id": "2610.40194",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.40194"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.app-ph",
      "subfield": "applied-instrumentation"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Optical Calibration of a Frequency-Domain-Multiplexed X-Ray TES Microcalorimeter Array via Photon-Number-Resolved Statistics",
  "title_text": "Optical Calibration of a Frequency-Domain-Multiplexed X-Ray TES Microcalorimeter Array via Photon-Number-Resolved Statistics",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-01T12:20:47Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/38vqqm5p9rw6v",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": [
    {
      "doi": "10.3390/s26216788",
      "pid": null,
      "relation": "published-as",
      "title": null,
      "venue": null
    }
  ]
}