Progress on the fabrication of lightweight single-crystal silicon x-ray mirrors

Abstract

Single crystal silicon is an excellent X-ray mirror substrate material due to its high stiffness, low density, high thermal conductivity, zero internal stress, and commercial availability. At NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, we have been developing a process for producing high resolution and lightweight X-ray mirror segments at low cost and with high throughput. Previously we demonstrated the possibility of producing X-ray mirrors which meet the high demands of a future X-ray mission. Presently, we are producing lightweight X-ray mirror segments of unprecedented quality. This paper presents results from these recent investigations.