Lobster eye optics are expected as to be a wide-field telescope and are suitable for future X-ray sky surveys and monitoring missions. The ultra-lightweight X-ray optics have been developed using MEMS technologies and the same way can be applied to the fabrication of lobster eye optics. A large number of slits with 20 micro-meters width were formed by an etching process in a 4-inch Si wafer with 300 micro-meters thickness. To collect X-rays on a focal plane, the wafer was plastic-deformed into a spherical shape with a radius of curvature of 1000 mm. Two deformed wafers were assembled in such a way as to arrange the slits of each wafer orthogonally. Then, samples of lobster eye optics were completed and the fabrication process flow with MEMS technologies can be confirmed.
We have been developing ultra-lightweight Wolter type-I X-ray telescopes fabricated with MEMS technologies for GEO-X (GEOspace X-ray imager) which is a small satellite mission to perform soft X-ray imaging spectroscopy of the entire Earth’s magnetosphere. The telescope is our original type of micropore optics and possesses lightness (∼5 g), a short focal length (∼250 mm), and a wide field of view (∼5° × ∼5°). The MEMS X-ray telescope is made of 4-inch Si (111) wafers. The Si wafer is first processed by deep reactive ion etching, which has numerous curvilinear micropores (a 20-μm width) whose sidewalls are utilized as X-ray reflective mirrors. High-temperature hydrogen annealing and chemical mechanical polishing processes are applied to make those sidewalls smooth and flat enough to reflect X-rays. After that, the wafer is plastic-deformed into a spherical shape and Pt-coated by a plasma atomic layer deposition process to focus X-rays with high reflectivity. Finally, we assemble two optics bent with different curvatures (1000- and 333-mm radii) and complete the Wolter type-I telescope. We optimized each process and conducted an X-ray irradiation test to assemble the full-processed optics into an EM telescope for the GEO-X mission, which enabled to complete the telescope to achieve an angular resolution of ∼4.8 arcmin in FWHM in the assembled telescope. We report on our latest development status and the X-ray imaging performance of the GEO-X EM telescope.
GEOspace X-ray imager (GEO-X) is a small satellite mission aiming at visualization of the Earth’s magnetosphere by X-rays and revealing dynamic couplings between solar wind and the magnetosphere. In-situ spacecraft have revealed various phenomena in the magnetosphere. X-ray astronomy satellite observations recently discovered soft X-ray emissions originating from the magnetosphere. We are developing GEO-X by integrating innovative technologies of a wide field of view (FOV) X-ray instrument and a small satellite for deep space exploration. The satellite combines a Cubesat and a hybrid kick motor, which can produce a large delta v to increase the altitude of the orbit to about 30 to 60 RE from a relatively low-altitude (e.g., geo transfer orbit) piggyback launch. GEO-X carries a wide FOV (5 × 5 deg) and a good spatial resolution (10 arcmin) X-ray (0.3 to 2 keV) imaging spectrometer using a micro-machined X-ray telescope and a CMOS detector system combined with an optical blocking filter. We aim to launch the satellite around the solar maximum of solar cycle 25.
We have been developing an ultra-lightweight Wolter type-I X-ray telescope fabricated with micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) technologies for GEO-X (GEOspace X-ray Imager) mission.
GEO-X will aim global imaging of the Earth's magnetosphere using X-rays.
The telescope is our original micropore optics which is light in weight (~5 g), compact with a short focal length (~250 mm), and has a wide field-of-view (~5 deg x 5 deg).
In this talk we show developed assembly processes to meet the requirements of the GEO-X mission and the telescope's X-ray imaging performance as an engineering model with this method.
GEO-X is a small satellite mission in near moon orbit to visualize the Earth’s magnetosphere. Since the Earth is a bright x-ray source, its x-rays have a potentially effect on the GEO-X observations. Fluxes of the unexpected x-rays, stray lights, and of the GEO-X signal can be estimated. In order to estimate the stray light effect on the GEO-X FOV, we carried out a ray-tracing simulation and calculated the signal-to-noise ratio for elongations from the Earth. The S/N ratio shows a range depending on signal flux. The signal estimated by MHD simulations is smaller than estimation based on the typical observation. When we apply the small signal flux, the S/N ratio is <10 at 7 deg elongation of the GEO-X FOV from the Earth in an orbital altitude of 60RE. In order to improve the S/N ratio, there are two ways, installing a collimator in front of the optics and adjusting the observation position to obtain a large elongation. The ray-tracing simulation reveals that the collimator with 30 µm pore width and 300 µm thickness can improve the S/N ratio. The S/N ratio with the collimator can achieve >10 when the elongation is 7 deg in the orbital altitude of 60 RE. A sample collimator was fabricated by a Si dry etching. Difference of the pore width from the designed value was occurred. Since the difference can lead to extra photon loss, a trade-off study between fabrication precision and observation position is important.
We have been developing an ultra-lightweight Wolter type-I x-ray telescope fabricated with MEMS technologies for GEO-X (geospace x-ray imager) which is an 18U CubeSat (∼20 kg) to perform soft x-ray imaging spectroscopy of the entire Earth’s magnetosphere from Earth orbit near the moon. The telescope is our original micropore optics which possesses lightness (∼15 g), a short focal length (∼250 mm), and a wide field of view (∼5 ◦ × ∼5 ◦ ). The MEMS x-ray telescope is made of 4-inch Si (111) wafers. The Si wafer is firstly processed by deep reactive ion etching such that they have numerous curvilinear micropores (20-µm width) whose sidewalls are utilized as X-ray reflective mirrors. High-temperature hydrogen annealing and chemical mechanical polishing processes are then applied to make those sidewalls smooth and flat enough to reflect X-rays. After that, the wafer is plastic-deformed into a spherical shape and Pt-coated by plasma atomic layer deposition (ALD) process to focus x-rays with high reflectivity. Finally, we assemble two optics bent with different curvatures (1000- and 333-mm radius) into the Wolter type-I telescope. Optimizing the annealing and polishing processes, we found that the optic achieves an angular resolution of ∼5.4 arcmins in HPW. This is comparable with the requirement for GEO-X (∼5 arcmins in HPD at single reflection). Our optic was also successfully Pt-coated by a plasma-enhanced ALD process to enhance x-ray reflectivity. Moreover, we fabricated an STM telescope and confirmed its environmental tolerances by conducting an acoustic test with the H-IIA rocket qualification test level and a radiation tolerance test with a 100 MeV proton beam for 30 krad equivalent to a 3-year duration in the GEO-X orbit.
We are developing a novel Bragg reflection x-ray polarimeter using hot plastic deformation of silicon wafers. A Bragg reflection polarimeter has the advantage of simple principle and large modulation factor but suffers from the disadvantage of a narrow detectable energy band and difficulty to focus an incident beam. We overcome these disadvantages by bending a silicon wafer at high temperature. The bent Bragg reflection polarimeter have a wide energy band using different angles on the wafer and enable focusing. We have succeeded in measuring x-ray polarization with this method for the first time using a sample optic made from a 4-inch silicon (100) wafer.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.