Parts for ESA's NewAthena X-ray telescope are produced in Adlershof
Agreement on the production of mirror modules in the PTB laboratory at BESSY II
For more than 30 years, there have been cooperation agreements between PTB and the European Space Agency (ESA) on the use of synchrotron radiation for the characterisation of detectors, filters and mirrors for X-ray astrophysics. For the investigation of silicon pore optics (SPO), two dedicated beamlines have been operated in the PTB laboratory at BESSY II for about 10 years.
Now the collaboration is reaching a new level, as not only the characterisation but also part of the production of the NewAthena X-ray telescope, which is to be launched into space in 2037, is to be carried out with the aid of synchrotron radiation. To this end, PTB will set up two additional beamlines (X-ray Parallel Beam Facilities, XPBF 3 and 4) and a clean room measuring around 90 m² in its laboratory at BESSY II by spring 2027. Using the X-ray beams generated there with very small divergence (< 2 arc seconds), employees of cosine, the company developing the optics on behalf of ESA, can align prefabricated stacks for double reflection and assemble them into mirror modules. The stacks consist of rectangular plates made of silicon wafers with ribs on the backside, creating pores in which the X-rays are reflected. Approximately 600 mirror modules must be produced for the required mirror surface of around 300 m², which are then assembled to form an optical system with a diameter of 2.5 metres.
An agreement on the construction of the beamlines and their operation until 2034 was signed in spring 2025. At a meeting with representatives of ESA and cosine on 30 April 2025 in Berlin-Adlershof, the importance of PTB for the realisation of the largest X-ray telescope to date was reaffirmed.
Publication:
Characterization of silicon pore optics for the NewAthena X-ray observatory in the PTB laboratory at BESSY II
M. Krumrey et al., J. Synchrotron Rad. 31, 716-722 (2024)
https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600577524004090
Contact:
Michael Krumrey
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
Department 7.2 X-ray Metrology with Synchrotron Radiation
michael.krumrey(at)ptb.de
https://www.ptb.de
PTB press release, 6 June 2025