Soft x-ray response of the prototype CCD camera (XIS) for Astro-E

The x-ray imaging spectrometers (XIS) are x-ray CCD cameras on-board the Astro-E satellite launched in 2000. The XIS consists of 4 cameras, each of them will be installed on a focal plane of the Astro-E X-ray Telescope (XRT). The XIS not only have a higher sensitivity, which comes from a larger effective area of the XRT and thicker depletion layers of the XIS CCDs, than ASCA SIS. But also have several features that will overcome the radiation damage effects anticipated in the orbit. The calibration experiment at Osaka focuses on the soft x-ray response of the XIS. The calibration system employs a grating spectrometer which irradiates the CCD with dispersed x-rays. We have obtained preliminary results on the XIS proto model, including the energy-pulse-height relation, the energy-resolution relation, and the quantum efficiency at the energy range of 0.25-2.2 keV.