The development of the  mirror for the Athena X-ray mission

Collon, Maximilien J.; Abalo, Luis; Barrière, Nicolas M.; Bayerle, Alex; Castiglione, Luigi; Eenkhoorn, Noë; Girou, David; Günther, Ramses; Hauser, Enrico; Hoeven, Roy van der; Hollander, Jasper den; Jenkins, Yvette; Landgraf, Boris; Keek, L.; Okma, Ben; Ribeiro, Paulo da Silva; Rizzos, Chris; Thete, Aniket; Vacanti, Giuseppe; Verhoeckx, Sjoerd; Vervest, Mark; Visser, Roel; Voruz, Luc; Bavdaz, Marcos; Wille, Eric; Ferreira, Ivo; Riekerink, Mark Olde; Haneveld, Jeroen; Koelewijn, Arenda; Wijnperle, Maurice; Lankwarden, Jan-Joost; Schurink, Bart; Start, Ronald; Baren, Coen van; Herder, Jan-Willem A. den; Handick, Evelyn; Krumrey, Michael; Burwitz, V.; Massahi, Sonny; Ferreira, Desiree Della Monica; Svendsen, Sara; Christensen, Finn Erland; Mundon, William; Phillips, G. J.

doi:10.1117/12.2630775

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…This ambitious target is being reached using the technology of Silicon Pore Optics (SPO) under development at ESA and cosine, which will enable to manufacture modular elements (mirror modules, MMs) of densely-nested focusing optics with very low mass-to-effective area ratio and high stiffness. [2] The latest ATHENA design foresees the co-focal integration of 600 MMs into the mirror assembly (MA): each of them needs to be tested, measuring its Point Spread Function (PSF) and its Effective Area (EA) directly in X-rays, prior to integration with a common focus. [3] In order to keep up with the expected production rate of 2 MM/day, an appropriate X-ray test facility shall generate a broad and parallel beam, at the same time avoiding the need of evacuating large volumes, thereby minimizing the time required for MM replacement.…”

Section: The Beatrix X-ray Facilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical design and performance simulations for the 1.49 keV beamline of the BEaTriX X-ray facility

Spiga

Salmaso

Basso

et al. 2023

International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2022

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The BEaTriX (Beam Expander Testing X-ray) facility, now operational at INAF-Brera Astronomical Observatory, will represent a cornerstone in the acceptance roadmap of Silicon Pore Optics (SPO) mirror modules, and will so contribute to the final angular resolution of the ATHENA X-ray telescope. By expansion and collimation of a microfocus X-ray source via a paraboloidal mirror, a monochromation stage, and an asymmetric crystal, BEaTriX enables the full-aperture illumination of an SPO mirror module with a parallel, monochromatic, and broad (140 mm × 60 mm) X-ray beam. The beam then propagates in a 12 m vacuum range to image the point spread function of the mirror module, directly on a focal plane camera. Currently the 4.51 keV beamline, based on silicon crystals, is operational in BEaTriX. A second beamline at 1.49 keV, which requires a separate paraboloidal mirror and organic crystals (ADP) for beam expansion, is being realized. As for monochromators, the current design is based on asymmetric quartz crystals. In this paper, we show the current optical design of the 1.49 keV beamline and the optical simulations carried out to predict the achievable performances in terms of beam collimation, intensity, and uniformity. In the next future, the simulation activity will allow us to determine manufacturing and alignment tolerances for the optical components.

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Section: The Beatrix X-ray Facilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical design and performance simulations for the 1.49 keV beamline of the BEaTriX X-ray facility

Spiga

Salmaso

Basso

et al. 2023

International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2022

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“…Silicon Pore Optics (SPO) technology has been adopted to produce the NewATHENA X-ray optics. It has been shown that this method can reach the requirements for both Effective Area and HEW [3], remaining within the mass allocated 1 corresponding author: bianca.salmaso@inaf.it; phone +39-02-72320-428; www.brera.inaf.it for the optics. The optics will be built with a modular concept, integrating many Mirror Modules (MM) (492 for NewAthena), each of them based on a stack of several confocal Wolter I shell segments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

The BEaTriX x-ray facility at work: activities and future development

Salmaso,

Spiga,

Basso

et al. 2023

Optics for EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Astronomy XI

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The BEaTriX (Beam Expander Testing X-ray) facility has completed the commissioning phase. This unique compact facility – that occupies an area of 8 x 14 m2 - provides a large (170 mm × 60 mm) collimated (⪅ 2.5 arcsec) monochromatic beam at the energy of 4.51 keV. Its concept is based on the combination of a microfocus x-ray source, a parabolic mirror, and a set of silicon crystals, one of which is asymmetrically cut with respect to the lattice planes. The tests have proven the BEaTriX capability to perform the acceptance tests for Point Spread Function and Effective Area of the NewAthena Silicon Pore Optics Mirror Modules (MM) with a 3 MM/day throughput. The second BEaTriX beamline at the x-ray of 1.49 keV is currently being developed. The optomechanical design, and simulation of alignment tolerances have been completed. The parabolic mirror is being polished at INAF-OAB, on the basis of the experience matured with producing the parabolic mirror for the 4.51 keV beam line. The crystals for the monochromator (Quartz 10-10) and the beam expander (ADP 101) are being procured. Differently from the 4.51 keV beam line, all three crystals for the 1.49 keV are asymmetrically cut, as a special design has been adopted to guarantee the specifications. Owing to the good results obtained by BEaTriX at the INAF labs in Italy, a feasibility study is also ongoing to replicate the facility with a similar design at cosine B.V. in The Netherlands (where the MMs will be produced) for measuring the MMs SPO at 1.49 and 6.4 keV before and after the vibrational tests.

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“…To produce the mirrors, commercial 300 mm double-sided super-polished silicon wafers are diced, ribbed and wedged to create rectangular plates with ribs on the bottom side (Collon et al, 2022). Mirror stacks with up to 38 plates are assembled by a stacking robot at the Dutch company cosine so that pores of about 1 mm � 1 mm are formed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of silicon pore optics for the NewAthena X-ray observatory in the PTB laboratory at BESSY II

Krumrey,

Skroblin,

Cibik

et al. 2024

J Synchrotron Radiat

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The New Advanced Telescope for High ENergy Astrophysics (NewAthena) will be the largest space-based X-ray observatory ever built. It will have an effective area above 1.1 m2 at 1 keV, which corresponds to a polished mirror surface of about 300 m2 due to the grazing incidence. As such a mirror area is not achievable with an acceptable mass even with nested shells, silicon pore optics (SPO) technology will be utilized. In the PTB laboratory at BESSY II, two dedicated beamlines are in use for their characterization with monochromatic radiation at 1 keV and a low divergence well below 2 arcsec: the X-ray Pencil Beam Facility (XPBF 1) and the X-ray Parallel Beam Facility (XPBF 2.0), where beam sizes up to 8 mm × 8 mm are available while maintaining low beam divergence. This beamline is used for characterizing mirror stacks and controlling the focusing properties of mirror modules (MMs) – consisting of four mirror stacks – during their assembly at the beamline. A movable CCD based camera system 12 m from the MM registers the direct and the reflected beams. The positioning of the detector is verified by a laser tracker. The energy-dependent reflectance in double reflection through the pores of an MM with an Ir coating was measured at the PTB four-crystal monochromator beamline in the photon energy range 1.75 keV to 10 keV, revealing the effects of the Ir M edges. The measured reflectance properties are in agreement with the design values to achieve the envisaged effective area.

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The development of the mirror for the Athena X-ray mission

Cited by 4 publications

References 20 publications

Optical design and performance simulations for the 1.49 keV beamline of the BEaTriX X-ray facility

Optical design and performance simulations for the 1.49 keV beamline of the BEaTriX X-ray facility

The BEaTriX x-ray facility at work: activities and future development

Characterization of silicon pore optics for the NewAthena X-ray observatory in the PTB laboratory at BESSY II

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