We present the results obtained with the new Laue lens prototype built in the LARIX facility in the Physics Department of University of Ferrara. Following the results of the first prototype presented at the SPIE conference in Marseille, and also thanks to the methods adopted for improving the prototype (SPIE conference in San Diego, Ferrari et al. 2009) here we present the results of the new prototype with improved performances in terms of point spread function (PSF) and spectral response.

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We will describe the LAUE project, supported by the Italian Space Agency, whose aim is to demonstrate the capability to build a focusing optics in the hard X-/soft gamma-ray domain (80-600 keV). To show the lens feasibility, the assembling of a Laue lens petal prototype with 20 m focal length is ongoing. Indeed, a feasibility study, within the LAUE project, has demonstrated that a Laue lens made of petals is feasible. Our goal is a lens in the 80-600 keV energy band. In addition to a detailed description of the new LARIX facility, in which the lens is being assembled, we will report the results of the project obtained so far.

We report the results obtained from the characterization of bent Silicon, Germanium and Gallium Arsenide crystals, which are being used for focusing photons in the 90-300 keV energy range, in the framework of the LAUE project. Such crystals represent the best choice for building Laue lenses thanks to their high reflectivity and to the narrow Point Spread Function (PSF) they can provide. The test aims to select the best material, to optimize the thickness and to estimate the curvature radius of the crystal tiles that will be used for building a 20 m focal length Laue lens petal