The WFI instrument of ESA’s next X-ray observatory ATHENA will provide excellent spectroscopic performance

in an unprecedented large field of view.  The focal plane consists of DEPFET active pixel sensors to typically produce

energy resolution below 170 eV FWHM @ 7 keV on a 512x512 pixels sensor with fast readout. The DEPFET concept

 is based on intrinsic amplification of detected signals to enable high speed and low noise operation. In the course

of the detector development, a new generation of spectroscopic DEPFET detectors, focusing on this geometry and

technology were investigated. After introducing the ATHENAs WFI instrument, the performance of these prototype

detectors will be presented as well as a comparison of the different sensor concepts.