X-ray telescopes: every photon counts
The next epoch in X-ray astronomy will be driven by combining high spatial resolution imagery and high sensitivity spectroscopy within one telescope system, for example the NASA flagship mission concept Lynx. To understand the nature of the very first black holes at redshifts of z = 10, every photon is valuable; in contrast to the focussed high flux X-ray source within the synchrotron community. However, both synchrotron and astronomical communities require near perfect optical surfaces in order to achieve high resolution imaging and it is this common specification that has resulted in a technology exchange between the two communities. Part of this seminar will discuss the range of technologies that are being developed to meet the science requirements of Lynx and will, in particular, focus on the technique of differential deposition, which is a preferential thin film coating technique to correct for optical figure errors on thin (<1mm) X-ray mirrors. The conclusion of this seminar will focus on the use of additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, to create intricate mirror structures for space-based and X-ray applications – experimental data will be presented in addition to design considerations.
Requests made by e-mail will be confirmed.
If you do not receive a confirmation e-mail, please contact us by phone.