Abstract. The ESA X-ray Multi Mirror mission, XMM-Newton, carries two identical Reflection Grating Spectrometers (RGS) behind two of its three nested sets of Wolter I type mirrors. The instrument allows highresolution (E/∆E = 100 to 500) measurements in the soft X-ray range (6 to 38Å or 2.1 to 0.3 keV) with a maximum effective area of about 140 cm 2 at 15Å. Its design is optimized for the detection of the K-shell transitions of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, neon, magnesium, and silicon, as well as the L shell transitions of iron. The present paper gives a full description of the design of the RGS and its operational modes. We also review details of the calibrations and in-orbit performance including the line spread function, the wavelength calibration, the effective area, and the instrumental background.

We report on the shear modulus G of colloidal crystals formed from thoroughly deionized suspensions of charged latex spheres. G is measured as a function of particle number density n. Body- and face-centered-cubic (bcc and fcc) crystal structures are observed by simultaneously performed static light scattering, and a broad coexistence region is found between (2.7±0.1)×1018 m−3⩽n⩽(4.8±0.2)×1018 m−3. Below n=1019 m−3, G closely follows theoretical predictions for both bcc and fcc, while it stays constant throughout the transition region. Above n=1019 m−3, G still observes the predicted n-dependence but with values larger than expected. While in that region, an upper bound of particles per crystallite is estimated from scattering data to be on the order of 104; the abrupt change in G cannot be solely attributed to the gradual morphological transition from polycrystalline to nanocrystalline materials.

We describe the fabrication of the two NuSTAR flight optics modules. The NuSTAR optics modules are glass-graphiteepoxy composite structures to be employed for the first time in space-based X-ray optics by NuSTAR, a NASA Small Explorer schedule for launch in February 2012. We discuss the optics manufacturing process, the qualification and environmental testing performed, and briefly discuss the results of X-ray performance testing of the two modules. The integration and alignment of the completed flight optics modules into the NuSTAR instrument is described as are the optics module thermal shields. OVERVIEW OF THE OPTICS MODULESThe Nuclear Spectroscopy Telescope Array (NuSTAR) is a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX) satellite mission scheduled for launch in February 2012. The NuSTAR experiment contains two telescopes each consisting of an optic and a CdZnTe focal plane detector separated from each other by a 10-meter deployable mast (figure 1). The experiment is an extension and improvement on the design successfully employed in the HEFT balloon experiment (Harrison et al. 2005 1 ). NuSTAR will operate in the 6-79 keV energy band. More details on the mission, the overall instrument design and performance requirements and scientific objectives can be found in Harrison et al. 2010 2 .A blowup of an individual optics module is also shown in figure 1. Each layer of the optic has an upper and lower conic shell (equivalent to the parabola-hyperbola sections of a Wolter-I optic). Each shell is composed of multiple thermally formed glass segments. Each piece of glass is coated with a depth-graded multilayer. The enhanced reflectivity provided by the multilayers, along with the shallow graze angles afforded by the focal length of the optics (10.15 meter) provide high effective area over the NuSTAR energy band of 6-79 keV, and a field of view of 12 arcminutes by 12 arcminutes. There are 133 concentric layers which together form each optic. The glass layers (a glass-epoxy-graphite composite structure) are built up on a Titanium mandrel. Titanium support spiders located on the top and bottom of each optic connect it to the optical bench. The compliant, radially-symmetric spiders accommodate thermal expansion effects as well as dynamic loading. Thin x-ray transparent thermal covers on the entrance and exit apertures of the optic reduce thermal gradients by blocking direct view of the sun and deep space. Two flight modules, FM1 and FM2, were fabricated. A third module, FM0, was fabricated earlier and has Pt/SiC multilayers on the inner 89 layers. FM0 is a potential flight spare and is available to provide for more extensive X-ray characterization than is permitted for either of the flight modules, given the compressed delivery schedule of the optics.

Abstract. We report on the design, construction and operation of a low background x-ray detection line composed of a shielded Micromegas (micromesh gaseous structure) detector of the microbulk technique. The detector is made from radiopure materials and is placed at the focal point of a ∼ 5 cm diameter, 1.3 m focal-length, cone-approximation Wolter I x-ray telescope (XRT) comprised of thermally-formed (or "slumped") glass substrates deposited with multilayer coatings. The system has been conceived as a technological pathfinder for the future International Axion Observatory (IAXO), as it combines two of the techniques (optic and detector) proposed in the conceptual design of the project. It is innovative for two reasons: it is the first time an x-ray optic has been designed and fabricated specifically for axion research, and the first time a Micromegas detector has been operated with an x-ray optic. The line has been installed at one end of the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) magnet and is currently looking for solar axions. The combination of the XRT and Micromegas detector provides the best signal-to-noise ratio obtained so far by any detection system of the CAST experiment with a background rate of 5.4×10 −3 counts per hour in the energy region-of-interest and signal spot area.

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