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The recent progress in cubesat technologies allows scientific payloads for these minisatellites to be considered. We will discuss the possible miniature X/EUV and UV telescopes and monitors as potential minisats payloads. The advanced electronics image detectors allows the size of the optics to be miniaturized, still providing valuable scientific results.
In the field of X-ray astronomy different types of telescope optics based on grazing incidence mirrors can be used. This contribution presents a special design of a Lobster Eye wide-field telescope with mirrors based on flat silicon wafers and the task of coating such mirror substrates with reflective iridium layers.
Das Projekt JEUMICO wird vom Projektträger BAYHOST im Rahmen eines
Programms für bilaterale wissenschaftliche Projekte zwischen Tschechien und
Bayern gefördert. Inhaltlich werden von der Hochschule Aschaffenburg und der
Technischen Universität Prag hier gemeinsam Röntgenoptiken für ein geplantes
astronomisches Experiment an Bord einer NASA-Höhenrakete entwickelt.
X-ray astronomy uses space-based telescopes to overcome the disturbing absorption of the Earth´s atmosphere. The telescope mirrors are operating at grazing incidence angles and are coated with thin metal films of high-Z materials to get sufficient reflectivity for the high-energy radiation to be observed. In addition the optical payload needs to be light-weighted for launcher mass constrains. Within the project JEUMICO, an acronym for “Joint European Mirror Competence”, the Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences and the Czech Technical University in Prague started a collaboration to develop mirrors for X-ray telescopes. The X-ray telescopes currently developed within this Bavarian- Czech project are of Lobster eye type optical design. Corresponding mirror segments use substrates of flat silicon wafers which are coated with thin iridium films, as this material is promising high reflectivity in the X-ray range of interest. The deposition of the iridium films is based on a magnetron sputtering process. Sputtering with different parameters, especially by variation of the argon gas pressure, leads to iridium films with different properties. In addition to investigations of the uncoated mirror substrates the achieved surface roughness has been studied. Occasional delamination of the iridium films due to high stress levels is prevented by chromium sublayers. Thereby the sputtering parameters are optimized in the context of the expected reflectivity of the coated X-ray mirrors. In near future measurements of the assembled mirror modules optical performances are planned at an X-ray test facility.
In the field of astronomical X-ray telescopes, different types of optics based on grazing incidence mirrors can be used. This contribution describes the special design of a lobster-eye optics in Schmidt's arrangement, which uses dual reflection to increase the collecting area. The individual mirrors of this wide-field telescope are made of at silicon wafers coated with reflecting iridium layers. This iridium coatings have some advantages compared to more common gold layers as is shown in corresponding simulations. The iridium coating process for the X-ray mirrors was developed within a cooperation of the Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences and the Czech Technical University in Prague. Different mirror parameters essential for a proper function of the X-ray optics, like the surface microroughness and the problematic of a good adhesion quality of the coatings were studied. After integration of the individual mirrors into the final lobster-eye optics and the corresponding space qualification testing it is planned to fly the telescope in a recently proposed NASA rocket experiment.
For space-born astronomical X-ray telescopes, iridium-based reflective layer systems are known as highly effective
mirrors coatings. During the recent years, Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences and the Czech Technical
University in Prague jointly developed stress compensated chromium-iridium coatings for this application. To overcome the disturbing reflectivity reduction of the iridium absorption edge around 2 keV photon energy, thin overcoat layers of chromium were applied in addition. Now a prototype of a wide-field, imaging X-ray telescope
of Lobster Eye type is assembled at the company RIGAKU. For this purpose a small series of 34 mirrors based on 100 x 50 mm semiconductor grade silicon substrates has been coated at Aschaffenburg University. The applied tri-layer system consists of a stack of 40 nm chromium, which act as adhesive layer and compensates layer stress, a 30 nm iridium thick reflective layer, and an additional overcoat layer of 6 nm chromium. This layer system
have been analysed by AFM and TEM images. The mirrors are assembled into an aluminium frame to build a 2D Lobster Eye type telescope. The designed focal length of this wide field X-ray telescope is two meter. To study the performance of the tri-layer coating system, a twin LE telescope with convenient gold coatings was manufactured also. Performance measurements of both telescopes and under same conditions are planned at the PANTER test facility at the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. First experimental results,
their comparison with theoretical simulations and the comparison between both models will be presented in this contribution.