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Technology Gallery

'22 '21 '20 '19 '18 '17 '16 '15 '14 '13 '12

2012

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PhysCOS and COR Strategic Technology Portfolio

PhysCOS and COR Strategic Technology Portfolio

For more information about these technologies visit our Technology Database.





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Testing thin grazing-incidence X-ray mirrors at MSFC X-ray test beam

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Testing thin grazing-incidence X-ray mirrors at MSFC X-ray test beam: guide tube from X-ray source to chamber (left); detector end of closed chamber (center); and Technology Demonstration Module (TDM), stage stack, and aperture mask in opened chamber (right).

Significance: This slumped glass technique provided some of the world’s best thin grazing-angle X-ray mirror performance at the time, and was the predecessor for even better single-crystal silicon mirrors that are baselined for Lynx X-ray flagship mission concept

Project Title: Next Generation X-ray Optics: High Resolution ,Light Weight, and Low Cost

PI: Zhang, William (GSFC)

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Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) bottom view image of prototype X-ray Critical-Angle Transmission (CAT) grating

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Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) bottom view image of prototype X-ray Critical-Angle Transmission (CAT) grating

Significance: Highest-resolution X-ray grating technology; baselined for Lynx X-ray flagship mission concept

Project Title: Development of Fabrication Process for X-Ray CAT Gratings

PI: Mark Schattenburg (MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research)

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Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) of ATHENA Transition-Edge-Sensor (TES) arrays

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Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) of ATHENA Transition-Edge-Sensor (TES) arrays (32×32 pixels on 250-µm pitch)

Significance: TES microcalorimeters offer energy resolution for advanced X-ray observatories such as the European ATHENA mission

Project Title: High-Resolution Imaging X-ray Spectrometer

PI: Caroline Kilbourne (GSFC)

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Mirror bonded to metrology mount during testing with piezo cell leads visible as part of development effort of adjustable thin X-ray mirrors

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Mirror bonded to metrology mount during testing with piezo cell leads visible (piezo layer is hidden on the bottom side) as part of development effort of adjustable thin X-ray mirrors

Significance: Adjustable X-ray optics are a backup technology for the Lynx large mission concept

Project Title: Adjustable X-ray Optics with Sub-Arcsecond Imaging

PI: Paul Reid (SAO)

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A pre-master with radial grooves at high density, laminar grating in single crystal Si on path to developing off-plane X-ray reflection grating

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A pre-master with radial grooves at high density (~6100 grooves/mm), laminar grating in single crystal Si on path to developing off-plane X-ray reflection grating

Significance: X-ray reflection gratings enable high throughput, high spectral resolving power below 2 keV, a spectral band holding major astrophysics interest

Project Title: Off-Plane Grating Arrays for Future Missions

PI: Randall McEntaffer (PSU)

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Lab test setup with 1570-nm laser locked to quartz cavity

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Lab test setup with 1570-nm laser (right hand side) locked to quartz cavity (center, white)

Significance:A highly stable laser simultaneously locked to a cavity and a molecular transition at a telecom wavelength can provide a highly coherent light source for future missions

Project Title: Laser Stabilization with CO

PI: John Lipa (Stanford University)




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