Institut für Astronomie und Astrophysik Abteilung Astronomie Sand 1, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany

Preprint 02/15

Soft Proton Scattering Efficiency Measurements on X-Ray Mirror Shells

S. Diebold (1), C. Tenzer (1), E. Perinati (1), A. Santangelo (1), M. Freyberg (2), P. Friedrich (2), J. Jochum (3)

(1) Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Kepler Center for Astro and Particle Physics, University of Tübingen, Germany
(2) Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany
(3) Physics Institute Tübingen, Kepler Center for Astro and Particle Physics, University of Tübingen, Germany

To be published in: Experimental Astronomy

Abstract. In-orbit experience has shown that soft protons are funneled more efficiently through focusing Wolter-type optics of X-ray observatories than simulations predicted. These protons can degrade the performance of solid-state X-ray detectors and contribute to the instrumental background. Since laboratory measurements of the scattering process are rare, an experiment for grazing angles has been set up at the accelerator facility of the University of Tübingen. Systematic measurements at incidence angles ranging from 0.3° to 1.2° with proton energies around 250 keV, 500 keV, and 1 MeV have been carried out. Parts of spare mirror shells of the eROSITA (extended ROentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array) instrument have been used as scattering targets. This publication comprises a detailed description of the setup, the calibration and normalization methods, and the scattering efficiency and energy loss results. A comparison of the results with a theoretical scattering description and with simulations is included as well.
 
Key words: X-ray instrumentation; X-ray astronomy; X-ray optics; Soft proton radiation; Grazing angle scattering

Preprint (2,14 Mb PDF file including figures)

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