The scientific instrumentation onboard the Italian satellite for x-ray astronomy (SAX) foresees x-ray imaging concentrators operating in the 0.1–10-keV energy range with a spatial resolution of 1 min of arc. The optics is composed of thirty confocal-nested very thin double-cone mirrors. To achieve good optical quality and to allow the construction of several concentrators at an acceptable cost, a replica technique by electroforming the mirrors from masters is used. This paper presents the results obtained from a set of electroformed mirrors mounted on a concentrator prototype.
© 1988 Optical Society of America
Original Manuscript: August 18, 1987
Published: April 15, 1988
Oberto Citterio, Giuseppe Bonelli, G. Conti, E. Mattaini, E. Santambrogio, B. Sacco, E. Lanzara, Heinrich Brauninger, and Wolfgang Burkert, "Optics for the x-ray imaging concentrators aboard the x-ray astronomy satellite SAX," Appl. Opt. 27, 1470-1475 (1988)