Abstract
Silicon Pore Optics (SPO) have been invented and developed to enable x-ray optics for space applications that require a combination of high angular resolution while being light-weight to allow achieving a large mirror surface area. In 2005, the SPO technology development was initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA) for a flagship x-ray telescope mission and is currently being planned as a baseline for the NewATHENA mission scheduled for launch in the 2030s. Its more than 2m diameter mirror will be segmented and comprises of 492 individual Silicon Pore Optics (SPO) grazing-angle imagers, called mirror modules. Arranged in concentric annuli and following a Wolter-Schwartzschild design, the mirror modules are made of several tens of primary-secondary mirror pairs, each mirror made of silicon, coated to increase the collective area of the system, and shaped to bring the incoming photons to a common focus in 12 m distance. The mission aims to deliver an angular resolution of better than nine arc-seconds (Half-energy width) and effective area of about 1.1 m2 at an energy of 1 keV. We present in this paper the status of the optics production and illustrate not only recent x-ray results but also the progress made on the environmental testing, manufacturing and assembly aspects of SPO based optics.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of SPIE : Optics for EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Astronomy XI |
| Editors | Stephen L. O'Dell, Jessica A. Gaskin, Giovanni Pareschi, Daniele Spiga |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Volume | 12679 |
| Publisher | SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
| Publication date | 2023 |
| Article number | 1267903 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
| Event | SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications 2023 - San Diego, United States Duration: 20 Aug 2023 → 25 Aug 2023 |
Conference
| Conference | SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications 2023 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | San Diego |
| Period | 20/08/2023 → 25/08/2023 |
| Series | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
|---|---|
| Volume | 12679 |
| ISSN | 0277-786X |
Keywords
- X-ray optics
- X-ray astronomy
- Silicon
- Wafer
- Stack
- Pore optics
- X-ray telescopes
- ATHENA
- ARCUS
- SPO
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