Curving X-ray detectors for astrophysics applications
Abstract
Next-generation X-ray optics will revolutionize high-energy astrophysics, yet they present several challenges to design a complementary focal plane. In particular, the focal surface is curved, requiring many small, flat sensors to achieve a large field. We present work building on MIT Lincoln Laboratory technology to curve the sensor itself, improving image quality and reducing complexity. Applying this technology to back-illuminated, large-format CCDs having well-characterized X-ray response, we describe the process and report success curving functional BI CCDs to a 2.5-m radius of curvature, achieving RMS curvature deviations less than 1 micron. We confirm that there is no appreciable increase in dark current and that the spectroscopic performance across the 0.3-6 keV band remains excellent. These results demonstrate that curved, large-format X-ray sensors are realizable, and the process can be extended to silicon detectors with other architectures, including active pixel sensors.
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BibTeX
@misc{miller2026curving,
title = {{Curving X-ray detectors for astrophysics applications}},
author = {Eric D. Miller and James A. Gregory and Keith Warner and Beverly LaMarr and Gregory Prigozhin and Marshall W. Bautz and Harry R. Clark and Michael J. Cooper and Kevan A. Donlon and Catherine E. Grant and WeiLin Hu and Mallory A. Jensen and Jill Juneau and Renee D. Lambert and Christopher W. Leitz and David Volfson and Douglas J. Young},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.01898},
eprint = {2609.01898},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.01898},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Curving X-ray detectors for astrophysics applications
AU - Eric D. Miller
AU - James A. Gregory
AU - Keith Warner
AU - Beverly LaMarr
AU - Gregory Prigozhin
AU - Marshall W. Bautz
AU - Harry R. Clark
AU - Michael J. Cooper
AU - Kevan A. Donlon
AU - Catherine E. Grant
AU - WeiLin Hu
AU - Mallory A. Jensen
AU - Jill Juneau
AU - Renee D. Lambert
AU - Christopher W. Leitz
AU - David Volfson
AU - Douglas J. Young
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.01898
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.01898
AB - Next-generation X-ray optics will revolutionize high-energy astrophysics, yet they present several challenges to design a complementary focal plane. In particular, the focal surface is curved, requiring many small, flat sensors to achieve a large field. We present work building on MIT Lincoln Laboratory technology to curve the sensor itself, improving image quality and reducing complexity. Applying this technology to back-illuminated, large-format CCDs having well-characterized X-ray response, we describe the process and report success curving functional BI CCDs to a 2.5-m radius of curvature, achieving RMS curvature deviations less than 1 micron. We confirm that there is no appreciable increase in dark current and that the spectroscopic performance across the 0.3-6 keV band remains excellent. These results demonstrate that curved, large-format X-ray sensors are realizable, and the process can be extended to silicon detectors with other architectures, including active pixel sensors.
ER -