BEaTriX, the new facility to measure the modular X-ray optics of the ATHENA telescope with an expanded and parallel X-ray beam
Year: 2023
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: BEaTriX (Beam Expander Testing X-ray facility) is the new facility available at the INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico Brera (Merate, Italy) for the calibration of X-ray optics. Specifically designed to measure the point spread function (PSF) and the effective area (EA) of the mirror modules (MM) of the ATHENA X-ray telescope at their production rate, BEaTriX gives the unique possibility to test the optics with a source that approximate an astronomical source, i.e. with a large, parallel X-ray beam (170 × 60 mm2) that fully covers the entrance pupil of the MM. For a fast and precise testing, BEaTriX is a compact facility (9 × 18 m2) with fast vacuum pump-down (to 10-6 mbar), and an optical setup able to create the X-ray beam with a residual divergence of about 2-3 arcsec, HEW, and with a flux of 60 photons/s/cm2. The first beam line at the energy of 4.51 keV is now operative, and a second beam line, working at the energy of 1.49 keV, will be implemented in the coming future. The unique characteristics of the BEaTriX X-ray beam are obtained with an X-ray microfocus source placed in the focus of a paraboloidal mirror, a monochromation stage with 4 symmetrically cut crystals, and an expansion stage where the beam is diffracted and expanded by an asymmetrically-cut crystal. The beam, reflected by the MMs, is then imaged at 12 m distance, where a directly-illuminated CCD camera is placed. This paper presents the facility, the calibration of the beam and the latest results with the ATHENA MMs.
DOI: 10.1117/12.2689948
Authors: S. Basso, B. Salmaso, D. Spiga, M. Ghigo, G. Vecchi, G. Sironi, V. Cotroneo, P. Conconi, E. Redaelli, A. Bianco, G. Pareschi, G. Tagliaferri, D. Sisana, C. Pelliciari, M. Fiorini, S. Incorvaia, M. Uslenghi, L. Paoletti, C. Ferrari, R. Lolli, A. Zappettini, M. Sanchez del Rio, G. Parodi, V. Burwitz, S. Rukdee, G. Hartner, T. Müller, T. Schmidt, A. Langmeier, D. Della Monica Ferreira, S. Massahi, N. C. Gellert, F. Christensen, M. Bavdaz, I. Ferreira, M. Collon, G. Vacanti, N. M. Barrière
Institutions: Brera Astronomical Observatory, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, National Institute for Astrophysics, Politecnico di Milano, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Milano, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Institute of Materials for Electronics and Magnetism, National Research Council, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Cosine (Netherlands)
Language: English
Subfield: Instrumentation
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4384025011