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Fabien Grise

Publications and source records attributed to Fabien Grise.

An Updated Optical Design for the Off-Plane Grating Rocket Experiment

The Off-plane Grating Rocket Experiment (OGRE) is a soft X-ray spectroscopy suborbital rocket payload designed to obtain the highest-resolution soft X-ray spectrum of Capella to date. With a spectral resolution goal of R(lambda/delta lambda) > 2000 at select wavelengths in its 10-55 A bandpass of interest, the payload will be able to study the line-dominated spectrum of Capella in unprecedented detail. To achieve this performance goal, the payload will employ three key technologies: mono-crystalline silicon X-ray mirrors developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, reflection gratings manufactured at The Pennsylvania State University, and electron-multiplying CCDs developed by The Open University and XCAM Ltd. In this document, an updated optical design that can achieve the performance goal of the OGRE spectrometer and a new grating alignment concept to realize this optical design are described.

Benjamin D. Donovan↗

Curved Diffractive X-ray Optics for X-ray Astronomy

We report on a concept for curved diffractive X-ray optics (CDXO). CDXO would enable potential new optical designs for X-ray instruments, such as a two element spectrometer, in which the secondary element of an X-ray mirror pair is patterned with an X-ray grating. A two-element spectrometer design eliminates the grating assembly, resulting in decreased instrument mass and reduced power requirements. In addition, a two-element spectrometer may realize cost/schedule savings by eliminating a separate grating alignment effort, and yield increased effective area over three element designs. We present a raytrace concept study of a two-element spectrometer compact enough to fit within a sounding rocket payload. We also review the progress made in electron-beam lithography (EBL) techniques that would enable curved diffractive X-ray optics to be patterned, and outline a procedure by which the accuracy of the EBL patterning process can be measured interferometrically.

Casey T. DeRoo↗