X-ray capillary system for hard x-ray astronomy

Abstract

A prototype capillary optical system has been developed to further test the possible use of polycapillary optics for a hard x-ray spectrometer for astrophysical applications. It has been evaluated both as a concentrator and a collimator of x-rays with energies between 10 and 60 keV. Transmission efficiency, angular acceptance and focal spot size have been measured. Both experiment and simulation results for the prototype optic have demonstrated the potential of x-ray polycapillary optics for astrophysical applications. Further design and fabrication improvements indicated by prototype studies are discussed.