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This site explains why three percent is a fundamental limit of X-ray detectors that use the conventional method of conversion to electric charges, and if a higher spectral resolution is required astronomers have to choose a detector that relies on a completely different principle, such as a microcalorimeter. As a result of its different approach, the microcalorimeter provides ten times better spectral resolution for detecting emission lines of iron. There is a discussion of the science involved in the principle of the device and the practical construction including the need for an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR).

Disciplines:

• Science and Technology  / Astronomy