Advances in the active alignment system for the IXO optics
2010
The next large x-ray astrophysics mission launched will likely include soft x-ray spectroscopy as a primary capability. A
requirement to fulfill the science goals of such a mission is a large-area x-ray telescope focusing sufficient x-ray flux to
perform high-resolution spectroscopy with reasonable observing times. The IXO soft x-ray telescope effort in the US is
focused on a tightly nested, thin glass, segmented mirror design. Fabrication of the glass segments with the required
surface accuracy is a fundamental challenge; equally challenging will be the alignment of the ~7000 secondary mirror
segments with their corresponding primary mirrors, and co-alignment of the mirror pairs. We have developed a system
to perform this alignment using a combination of a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) and a double-pass Hartmann
test alignment system. We discuss the technique, its ability to correct low-order mirror errors, and results of a recent pair
alignment including progress toward the required alignment accuracy of < 2 arcseconds, and discuss the influence of the
alignment process on mirror figure. We then look forward toward its scalability to the task of building the IXO
telescope.
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