Abstract

IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) is the next Nasa Small Explorer mission foreseen for the lunch in 2021. It is a partnership with the Italian Space Agency (ASI). IXPE is devoted to X-ray polarimetry in the 2-8 keV energy band. The IXPE telescope comprises three grazing incidence mirror modules coupled to three detector units hosting each one a Gas Pixel Detector (GPD) polarimeter. The GPD exploits the photoelectric effect to measure the linear polarization of the X-ray emission from astrophysical sources. A wide and accurate on ground calibration was carried out on the IXPE detector units at INAF-IAPS in Italy. A dedicated facility was set-up to calibrate the detector units with polarized and unpolarised X-rays at different energies before Instrument integration.

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