Refine
Labor/Institute
Keywords
- Iridium (6)
- Spiegelteleskop (6)
- mirror (6)
- Röntgenteleskop (5)
- telescope (5)
- X-ray (4)
- coating (4)
- iridium (4)
- Röntgenspiegel (3)
- astronomy (2)
Document Type
- Conference Proceeding (7)
- Article (2)
- Other (1)
An der Hochschule Aschaffenburg werden iridiumbasierte Schichtsysteme für röntgenastronomische Anwendungen hergestellt. Unter Nutzung eines Weißlichtinterferometers wurde hierfür ein Verfahren zur Vermessung der inhärenten Schichtspannungen entwickelt. Erste vielversprechende Ergebnisse von spannungsarmen Röntgenreflexionsbeschichtungen werden vorgestellt.
High angular resolution, large collecting area and reduced weight per unit area are required for astronomical X-ray telescopes of the next generation observatories. New technologies for processing X-ray mirrors are under development to fulfill these needs. One option is to realize a Wolter I type telescope constituted of several hundred nested thin and light-weight X-ray mirror segments. The individual mirror segments need to be coated with an about 100 nm thick film of a high-reflective material to enhance the reflectivity for X-rays. Thereby an accurate shape metrology of the segments is necessary to predict the angular resolution of the astronomical telescope as well as to control the development process of X-ray mirrors. We present the challenges in shape measurements of thin glasses used to control the coating process and first experimental results about the repeatability of the measurements.
Influence of sputtering pressure on the nanostructure and the X-ray reflectivity of iridium coatings
(2017)
Reflective mirror coatings made of iridium are used in X-ray telescopes of the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) launched in 1999 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to investigate astronomical sources at photon energies below 10. keV. These coatings were produced in a DC magnetron sputtering process and have so far proven their suitability for space-based applications. We are considering in the present paper the processing of thin iridium films for lightweight telescopes using the radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique with an oblique angle deposition. The coating development presented here is focused on the influence of total sputtering pressure on film properties as well as on its impact on the mirror's performance. Characterisation methods such as X-ray diffractometry, X-ray reflectometry, atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy have been used. Correlations between morphology, density, surface micro-roughness, crystal structure of the iridium layer and the expected reflectivity of the X-ray mirror are described and discussed.
Iridium-based coatings for mirrors of x-ray telescopes are studied. In particular, stress-induced deformation is characterized and shown to be compressive and equal to −1786 MPa. Two methods for stress compensation are then studied. One relies on the deposition of silica on the back surface of the substrate and a second one relies on the deposition of a chromium sublayer. Advantages and drawbacks of each of these techniques are presented.
Iridium-based layer systems are highly effective mirror coatings for space-born X-ray telescopes. During the recent years, Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences and its partners developed stress compensated chromium-iridium coatings for such astronomical applications, using chromium as an adhesive layer between iridium reflective layer and mirror substrate. However, there was room for improvement: To overcome the disturbing reflectivity reduction of the iridium absorption edge around 2 keV photon energy, thin overcoat layers of chromium are applied in addition now. This layer system has been analyzed by atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images. Furthermore, the reflectivity of such innovative X-ray mirrors based on chromium-iridium tri-layer coatings was recently measured at PTB's four-crystal monochromator beamline at the synchrotron radiation facility BESSY II. The experimental results, obtained for photon energies between 1.9 keV and 11 keV at two grazing incidence angles (0.6 degree and 0.9 degree) and their comparison with corresponding simulations are presented in this contribution. When compared to simulations of pure iridium coatings, a significantly higher reflectivity was achieved especially in the soft X-ray regime between 2 keV and 4 keV. Such chromium-iridium tri-layer coatings have high potential to increase the effective area for X-ray telescopes in Lobster Eye Design, for Wolter-I type X-ray optics, and for silicon pore optics as considered for the ATHENA telescope of the European Space Agency.
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.
Aluminium evaporation is still the standard solution for reflective coatings of large astronomical mirrors. Silver and gold are also used in specific cases depending on the targeted wavelength. This study characterized different metallic coatings - including unusual ones like sputtered iridium - to identify the most suitable mirror coating for the spectral range from ultraviolet to infrared wavelengths.
With ground based optical telescopes astronomers observe celestial objects over a wide spectral range. As usually three or even more reflections at telescope mirrors are involved, good reflection properties of the mirror coatings are important. The aluminum evaporation technique has been - and is still - the standard solution for the reflective coatings of large astronomical mirrors. Such coatings have excellent reflectivity in the ultraviolet and in the visible, but perform poorly in the infrared. Silver is the metal having highest reflectivity for wavelengths longward of 400 nm, but isn´t the best choice for reflectivity in the ultraviolet and for blue light. To avoid degradation by oxidation, durable silver coatings need to be protected by transmitting overcoating layers. In the presented study, different metallic coatings – including unusual ones like sputtered iridium - are characterized to identify a coating that is most suitable for the spectral range from ultraviolet to infrared. Experimental results are compared to simulations based on the complex refractive indices of these materials. Thereby dependence of incidence angle and polarization is also considered.
Röntgenteleskop-Funktionstests durch Beobachtung astronomischer Objekte am sichtbaren Nachthimmel
(2022)
Lobster-Eye-Röntgenteleskope nutzen reflektierende Planspiegel unter streifendem Einfall und zeichnen sich durch ein großes Beobachtungsfeld aus. Die Spiegel reflektieren auch sichtbare Strahlung hervorragend. Nach Röntgen-messungen im Labor wurden nun weitere Tests durchgeführt, um die Abbildungs-eigenschaften mit realen Objekten des sichtbaren Himmels zu untersuchen.