Fabrication of imaging X-ray optics

Our laboratory is involved in fabricating imaging x-ray optics for both astronomical and laboratory applications. A large Wolter type I x-ray telescope is being fabricated as part of an x-ray spectrometer for observing the spectra of cosmic sources in the wavelength range from 8 to 30A. The mirrors for this telescope are fabricated from blanks of 5083 aluminum alloy that have been figured by diamond turning. These figured surfaces are polished by applying a thin coating of acrylic lacquer that is subsequently overcoated by vacuum deposition of approximately 400A of tungsten. This telescope is the imaging element of an X-Ray Objective Grating Spectrometer (XOGS) that uses reflection gratings for spectral dispersion and an image sensitive proportional counter to detect the dispersed x-rays. The XOGS will be flown on an ARIES rocket in the summer of 1987 to observe the soft x-ray spectrum of Sco X-1. The present status of the telescope will be described and some data from a preliminary test of the spectrometer at the Marshall Space Flight Center X-ray Calibration facility will be presented.© (1986) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.