Precision Measurement of the K-Shell Spectrum from Highly Charged Xenon with an Array of X-Ray Calorimeters

We present a measurement of the K-shell spectrum from highly charged xenon ions recorded with a high-energy x-ray calorimeter spectrometer array that can distinguish between various theories for the atomic structure of the two electron system. The array was designed to provide high resolution with high quantum efficiency in the 10–60 keV x-ray range which allows us to resolve blends that afflicted previous measurements. A precision of better than 2 eV was achieved in the measurement of the Xe⁵²⁺ and Xe⁵³⁺ K-shell transitions located near 31 keV, which is an order of magnitude better than previously reported.