High-accuracy foil optics for X-ray astronomy

This thesis will describe the project of high-accuracy foil x-ray optics that I have been working on in the past two years at the Space Nanotechnology Laboratory (SNL). Achieving arcsecond angular resolution in a grazing incidence foil optic X-ray telescope, such as the segmented mirror approach being considered for the Constellation-X Spectroscopy X-Ray Telescope (SXT), requires accurate placement of individual foils. We have developed a method for mounting large numbers of nested, segmented foil optics with sub-micron accuracy using lithographically defined and etched silicon alignment micro-structures. A system of assembly tooling, incorporating the silicon micro-structures, or "microcombs", is used to position the foils which are then bonded to a flight structure. The advantage of this procedure is that the flight structure has relaxed tolerance requirements while the high accuracy assembly tooling can be reused. We have designed and built a system to experimentally test this alignment and mounting technique. An assembly station is used to test the ability of the alignment micro-structures to provide sub-micron positioning. Properties of the alignment micro-structures are reported. This thesis also reports our progress in developing a low-cost method for shaping thin-foil glass optics. Such optics might help reducing the errors associated with the shape of the foil substrate and serve as components for X-ray mirrors in missions such as Constellation-X. This method is based on novel thermal shaping techniques that achieve the desired shape with high accuracy, avoiding the need for replication. To demonstrate this method we have produced 200 micron-thick glass sheets with sub-micron flatness. Finally, the last part of this thesis centers on one crucial question concerning the use of glass optics as substrates for X-ray mirrors aboard satellites: can they survive to the acoustic loads occurring during launch? Both analytical calculations and experiments have been performed to answer this question. Thesis Supervisor: Mark Schattenburg Title: Principal Research Scientist

[1]  Steven R Schmid Kalpakjian,et al.  Manufacturing Engineering and Technology , 1991 .

[2]  Charles J. Hailey,et al.  Fast optical metrology of the hard x-ray optics for the High Energy Focusing Telescope (HEFT) , 1998, Optics & Photonics.

[3]  W. F. Riley,et al.  Experimental stress analysis , 1978 .

[4]  Lester M. Cohen,et al.  High-accuracy x-ray foil optic assembly , 2000, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[5]  H. Saunders,et al.  Advanced Mechanics of Materials (4th Ed.) , 1988 .

[6]  Yang Soong,et al.  Foil X-ray mirrors , 1996 .

[7]  Richard F.M. Smith,et al.  Student Reference Manual for Electronic Instrumentation Laboratories , 2003 .

[8]  Hideyo Kunieda,et al.  The X-ray telescope on board ASCA , 1995 .

[9]  Lester M. Cohen,et al.  Novel methods for shaping thin-foil optics for x-ray astronomy , 2002, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[10]  Carl Gang Chen,et al.  Microcomb fabrication for high accuracy foil x-ray telescope assembly and vector Gaussian beam modeling , 2000 .

[11]  P J Serlemitsos.  Conical foil x-ray mirrors: performance and projections. , 1988, Applied optics.

[12]  J. Culhane.  X-ray astronomy in the future , 1981 .

[13]  Peter J. Serlemitsos.  Foil X-Ray Mirrors for Astro-E , 1998 .

[14]  Finn Erland Christensen.  Status of the development of a thin-foil, high-throughput x-ray telescope for the Soviet Spectrum x-gamma mission , 1990 .

[15]  Werner Kern,et al.  Handbook of Semiconductor Wafer Cleaning Technology: Science, Technology, and Applications , 1994 .

[16]  W Craig,et al.  Development of thermally formed glass optics for astronomical hard X-ray telescopes. , 2000, Optics express.

[17]  U. Briel,et al.  The Rosat mission , 1981 .

[18]  Robert Laine,et al.  X-ray telescopes for the ESA XMM spacecraft , 1998, Optics & Photonics.

[19]  C. Zheng,et al.  ; 0 ; , 1951 .

[20]  Eberhard Spiller,et al.  Soft-x-ray optics , 1994, Optical Society of America Annual Meeting.

[21]  H. Pain,et al.  The physics of vibrations and waves , 1968 .

[22]  J. Trümper.  The ROSAT Mission , 1982 .

[23]  Finn E. Christensen,et al.  Hard x-ray optics for the HEFT balloon-borne payload: prototype design and status , 1998, Optics & Photonics.

[24]  B. Agrawal.  Design of Geosynchronous Spacecraft , 1986 .

[25]  H. Ashraf,et al.  DRY SILICON ETCHING FOR MEMS , 1997 .

[26]  Alan Michette,et al.  X-ray science and technology , 1993 .

[27]  E. J. Richards,et al.  Noise and acoustic fatigue in aeronautics , 1968 .

[28]  William W. Zhang,et al.  Segmented x-ray mirror development for Constellation-X , 1999, Optics & Photonics.

[29]  R. Cook,et al.  Advanced Mechanics of Materials , 1985 .

[30]  A. M. Cruise,et al.  Principles of Space Instrument Design , 1998 .

[31]  A. Slocum,et al.  Precision Machine Design , 1992 .

[32]  Finn E. Christensen,et al.  Substrates and mounting techniques for the High-Energy Focusing Telescope (HEFT) , 1997, Optics & Photonics.

[33]  Christopher J. Burrows,et al.  Optimal grazing incidence optics and its application to wide-field X-ray imaging , 1992 .

[34]  Henry W. Bergner,et al.  Precision assembly station for high-resolution segmented optics , 2000, SPIE Optics + Photonics.