The Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS) is a Probe-class concept that will build on the legacy of the Chandra x-ray Observatory by providing low-background, arcsecond-resolution in the 0.3-10 keV band across a 450 arcminute2 field of view, with an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity. AXIS utilizes breakthroughs in the construction of lightweight segmented x-ray optics using single-crystal silicon, and developments in the fabrication of large-format, small-pixel, high readout rate CCD detectors with good spectral resolution, allowing a robust and cost-effective design. Further, AXIS will be responsive to target-of-opportunity alerts and, with onboard transient detection, will be a powerful facility for studying the time-varying x-ray universe, following on from the legacy of the Neil Gehrels (Swift) x-ray observatory that revolutionized studies of the transient x-ray Universe. In this paper, we present an overview of AXIS, highlighting the prime science objectives driving the AXIS concept and how the observatory design will achieve these objectives.
In this multi-messenger astronomy era, all the observational probes are improving their sensitivities and overall performance. The Focusing on Relativistic universe and Cosmic Evolution (FORCE) mission, the product of a JAXA/NASA collaboration, will reach a 10 times higher sensitivity in the hard X-ray band (E > 10 keV) in comparison with any previous hard x-ray missions, and provide simultaneous soft x-ray coverage. FORCE aims to be launched in the early 2030s, providing a perfect hard x-ray complement to the ESA flagship mission Athena. FORCE will be the most powerful x-ray probe for discovering obscured/hidden black holes and studying high energy particle acceleration in our Universe and will address how relativistic processes in the universe are realized and how these affect cosmic evolution. FORCE, which will operate over 1–79 keV, is equipped with two identical pairs of supermirrors and wideband x-ray imagers. The mirror and imager are connected by a high mechanical stiffness extensible optical bench with alignment monitor systems with a focal length of 12 m. A light-weight silicon mirror with multi-layer coating realizes a high angular resolution of < 15′′ in half-power diameter in the broad bandpass. The imager is a hybrid of a brand-new SOI-CMOS silicon-pixel detector and a CdTe detector responsible for the softer and harder energy bands, respectively. FORCE will play an essential role in the multi-messenger astronomy in the 2030s with its broadband x-ray sensitivity.
The High-Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P) is a probe-class mission concept that will extend the reach of broadband (2-200 keV) X-ray observations, with 40 times the sensitivity of any previous mission in the 10-80 keV band and 10,000 times the sensitivity of any previous mission in the 80-200 keV band. HEX-P addresses key NASA science goals and is an important complement to ESA's L-class Athena mission. Working in coordination with Athena HEX-P will provide continuum measurements that are essential for interpreting Athena spectra. With angular resolution improved by more than an order of magnitude relative to NuSTAR, HEX-P will carry out an independent program aimed at addressing questions unique to the high energy X-ray band, such as the nature of the source that powers Active Galactic Nuclei, the evolution of black holes in obscured environments, and understanding of how compact binary systems form, evolve and influence galactic systems. With heritage from NuSTAR, HEX-P can be executed within the next decade with a budget less than double that of a Medium class Explorer (MIDEX) mission.
We present the development of the reflective coating by magnetron sputtering deposition onto precisely-fabricated thin X-ray mirrors. Our goal is to remove distortion induced by the coating and then keep their surface profiles. We first addressed the uniform coating to minimize the distortion by introducing a mask to control the spatial distribution of the coating thickness. The uniformity was finally achieved within ±1%. We next tried a platinum single-layer coating on a glass substrate with a dimension of 200 mm × 125 mm. The distortion caused by the frontside coating with a thickness of 320 Å was found to be at most ∼ 1 μm, smaller than the previous results obtained from the non-uniform coating. We then carried out the platinum coating with the same amount of the thickness on the backside surface of the glass substrate. The surface profile of the glass substrate was fully recovered, indicating that the residual stress was successfully balanced by the backside coating. Furthermore, we tried to an iridium single-layer coating with a thickness of 150 Åon the silicon mirrors. The frontside coating caused the degradation of the imaging quality by 7.5 arcsec in half-power width. However, the backside coating with the same amount of the thickness reduced this degradation to be 3.4 arcsec. Finally, an additional backside coating with a thickness of 100 Å and the annealing to relax the residual stress were found to eliminate the distortion completely; the final degradation of the imaging quality was only 0.4 arcsec.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.