<title>Feasibility study of a Laue lens for hard x rays for space astronomy</title>

Abstract

We report on the feasibility study of a Laue lens for hard X-rays (>60\nkeV)based on mosaic crystals, for astrophysical applications. In particular we\ndiscuss the scientific motivations, its functioning principle, the procedure\nfollowed to select the suitable crystal materials, the criteria adopted to\nestablish crystal dimensions and their distribution on the lens in order to\nobtain the best lens focusing capabilities, and the criteria for optimizing the\nlens effective area in a given passband. We also discuss the effects of\nmisalignments of the crystal tiles due to unavoidable mechanical errors in\nassembling the lens. A software was developed to face all these topics and to\nevaluate the expected lens performance.\n