Space Soft X-ray and EUV Optics in CIOMP

1 Introduction Since the early of 1980’s,the studies of soft X-ray and EUV optics have been implemented in CIOMP (Changchun Institute of Optics,Fine Mechanics and Physics)．So far,the research system of soft X-ray and EUV optics has been founded including sources,ra- diometry,testing and manufacturing of the super smooth mirror and multilayer coating mirror fabrication．Based on the above technologies,we started to develop the soft X-ray and EUV optical system such as a space EUV solar telescope and a EUV imager．

The Soft X-ray Imager(SXI)on the SMILE Mission

The Soft X-ray Imager(SXI)is part of the scientific payload of the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)mission.SMILE is a joint science mission between the European Space Agency(ESA)and the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)and is due for launch in 2025.SXI is a compact X-ray telescope with a wide field-of-view(FOV)capable of encompassing large portions of Earth’s magnetosphere from the vantage point of the SMILE orbit.SXI is sensitive to the soft X-rays produced by the Solar Wind Charge eXchange(SWCX)process produced when heavy ions of solar wind origin interact with neutral particles in Earth’s exosphere.SWCX provides a mechanism for boundary detection within the magnetosphere,such as the position of Earth’s magnetopause,because the solar wind heavy ions have a very low density in regions of closed magnetic field lines.The sensitivity of the SXI is such that it can potentially track movements of the magnetopause on timescales of a few minutes and the orbit of SMILE will enable such movements to be tracked for segments lasting many hours.SXI is led by the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom(UK)with collaborating organisations on hardware,software and science support within the UK,Europe,China and the United States.

Two methods for separating the magnetospheric solar wind charge exchange soft X-ray emission from the diffuse X-ray background

Solar wind charge exchange(SWCX)is the process of solar wind high-valence ions exchanging charges with neutral components and generating soft X-rays.Recently,detecting the SWCX emission from the magnetosphere is proposed as a new technique to study the magnetosphere using panoramic soft X-ray imaging.To better prepare for the data analysis of upcoming magnetospheric soft X-ray imaging missions,this paper compares the magnetospheric SWCX emission obtained by two methods in an XMM-Newton observation,during which the solar wind changed dramatically.The two methods differ in the data used to fit the diffuse X-ray background(DXB)parameters in spectral analysis.The method adding data from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey(RASS)is called the RASS method.The method using the quiet observation data is called the Quiet method,where quiet observations usually refer to observations made by the same satellite with the same target but under weaker solar wind conditions.Results show that the spectral compositions of magnetospheric SWCX emission obtained by the two methods are very similar,and the changes in intensity over time are highly consistent,although the intensity obtained by the RASS method is about 2.68±0.56 keV cm^(-2)s^(-1)sr^(-1)higher than that obtained by the Quiet method.Since the DXB intensity obtained by the RASS method is about 2.84±0.74 keV cm^(-2)s^(-1)sr^(-1)lower than that obtained by the Quiet method,and the linear correlation coefficient between the difference of SWCX and DXB obtained by the two methods in diffe rent energy band is close to-1,the diffe rences in magnetospheric SWCX can be fully attributed to the diffe rences in the fitted DXB.The difference between the two methods is most significant when the energy is less than 0.7 keV,which is also the main energy band of SWCX emission.In addition,the difference between the two methods is not related to the SWCX intensity and,to some extent,to solar wind conditions,because SWCX intensity typically va ries with the solar wind.In summary,both methods are robust and reliable,and should be considered based on the best available options.

Hybrid-Vlasov simulation of soft X-ray emissions at the Earth’s dayside magnetospheric boundaries

Solar wind charge exchange produces emissions in the soft X-ray energy range which can enable the study of near-Earth space regions such as the magnetopause,the magnetosheath and the polar cusps by remote sensing techniques.The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)and Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager(LEXI)missions aim to obtain soft Xray images of near-Earth space thanks to their Soft X-ray Imager(SXI)instruments.While earlier modeling works have already simulated soft X-ray images as might be obtained by SMILE SXI during its mission,the numerical models used so far are all based on the magnetohydrodynamics description of the space plasma.To investigate the possible signatures of ion-kinetic-scale processes in soft Xray images,we use for the first time a global hybrid-Vlasov simulation of the geospace from the Vlasiator model.The simulation is driven by fast and tenuous solar wind conditions and purely southward interplanetary magnetic field.We first produce global X-ray images of the dayside near-Earth space by placing a virtual imaging satellite at two different locations,providing meridional and equatorial views.We then analyze regional features present in the images and show that they correspond to signatures in soft X-ray emissions of mirrormode wave structures in the magnetosheath and flux transfer events(FTEs)at the magnetopause.Our results suggest that,although the time scales associated with the motion of those transient phenomena will likely be significantly smaller than the integration time of the SMILE and LEXI imagers,mirror-mode structures and FTEs can cumulatively produce detectable signatures in the soft X-ray images.For instance,a local increase by 30%in the proton density at the dayside magnetopause resulting from the transit of multiple FTEs leads to a 12%enhancement in the line-of-sight-and time-integrated soft X-ray emissivity originating from this region.Likewise,a proton density increase by 14%in the magnetosheath associated with mirror-mode structures can result in an enhancement in the soft X-ray signal by 4%.These are likely conservative estimates,given that the solar wind conditions used in the Vlasiator run can be expected to generate weaker soft X-ray emissions than the more common denser solar wind.These results will contribute to the preparatory work for the SMILE and LEXI missions by providing the community with quantitative estimates of the effects of small-scale,transient phenomena occurring on the dayside.

Estimating the subsolar magnetopause position from soft X-ray images using a low-pass image filter

The Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager(LEXI)and Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)missions will image the Earth’s dayside magneto pause and cusps in soft X-rays after their respective launches in the near future,to specify glo bal magnetic reconnection modes for varying solar wind conditions.To suppo rt the success of these scientific missions,it is critical to develop techniques that extract the magnetopause locations from the observed soft X-ray images.In this research,we introduce a new geometric equation that calculates the subsolar magnetopause position(RS)from a satellite position,the look direction of the instrument,and the angle at which the X-ray emission is maximized.Two assumptions are used in this method:(1)The look direction where soft X-ray emissions are maximized lies tangent to the magnetopause,and(2)the magnetopause surface near the subsolar point is almost spherical and thus RSis nea rly equal to the radius of the magneto pause curvature.We create synthetic soft X-ray images by using the Open Geospace General Circulation Model(OpenGGCM)global magnetohydrodynamic model,the galactic background,the instrument point spread function,and Poisson noise.We then apply the fast Fourier transform and Gaussian low-pass filte rs to the synthetic images to re move noise and obtain accurate look angles for the soft X-ray pea ks.From the filte red images,we calculate RS and its accuracy for different LEXI locations,look directions,and solar wind densities by using the OpenGGCM subsolar magnetopause location as ground truth.Our method estimates RS with an accuracy of<0.3 RE when the solar wind density exceeds>10 cm-3.The accuracy improves for greater solar wind densities and during southward interplanetary magnetic fields.The method ca ptures the magnetopause motion during southwa rd interplaneta ry magnetic field turnings.Consequently,the technique will enable quantitative analysis of the magnetopause motion and help reveal the dayside reconnection modes for dynamic solar wind conditions.This technique will suppo rt the LEXI and SMILE missions in achieving their scientific o bjectives.

SMILE soft X-ray Imager flight model CCD370 pre-flight device characterisation

Throughout the SMILE mission the satellite will be bombarded by radiation which gradually damages the focal plane devices and degrades their performance.In order to understand the changes of the CCD370s within the soft X-ray Imager,an initial characterisation of the devices has been carried out to give a baseline performance level.Three CCDs have been characterised,the two flight devices and the flight spa re.This has been carried out at the Open University in a bespo ke cleanroom measure ment facility.The results show that there is a cluster of bright pixels in the flight spa re which increases in size with tempe rature.However at the nominal ope rating tempe rature(-120℃) it is within the procure ment specifications.Overall,the devices meet the specifications when ope rating at -120℃ in 6 × 6 binned frame transfer science mode.The se rial charge transfer inefficiency degrades with temperature in full frame mode.However any charge losses are recovered when binning/frame transfer is implemented.

Finding the magnetopause location using soft X-ray observations and a statistical inverse method

Variability in the location and shape of the dayside magnetopause is attributed to magnetic reconnection,a fundamental process that enables the transfer of mass,energy,and momentum from the solar wind into the magnetosphere.The spatial and temporal properties of the magnetopause,under varying solar and magnetospheric conditions,remain largely unknown because empirical studies using in-situ observations are challenging to interpret.Global wide field-of-view(FOV)imaging is the only means to simultaneously observe the spatial distribution of the plasma properties over the vast dayside magnetospheric region and,subsequently,quantify the energy transport from the interplanetary medium into the terrestrial magnetosphere.Two upcoming missions,ESA/CAS SMILE and NASA’s LEXI will provide wide-field imagery of the dayside magnetosheath in soft X-rays,an emission generated by charge exchange interactions between high charge-state heavy ions of solar wind origin and exospheric neutral atoms.High-cadence two-dimensional observations of the magnetosheath will allow the estimation of dynamic properties of its inner boundary,the magnetopause,and enable studies of its response to changes in the solar wind dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic field orientation.This work introduces a statistically-based estimation approach based on inverse theory to estimate the spatial distribution of magnetosheath soft X-ray emissivities and,with this,identify the location of the magnetopause over the Sun−Earth line.To do so,we simulate the magnetosheath structure using the MHD-based OpenGGCM model and generate synthetic soft X-ray images using LEXI’s orbit and attitude information.Our results show that 3-D estimations using the described statistically-based technique are robust against Poisson-distributed shot noise inherent to soft X-ray images.Also,our proposed methodology shows that the accuracy of both three-dimensional(3-D)estimation and the magnetopause standoff distance calculation highly depends on the observational point.

Simulation of the SMILE Soft X-ray Imager response to a southward interplanetary magnetic field turning

The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)Soft X-ray Imager(SXI)will shine a spotlight on magnetopause dynamics during magnetic reconnection.We simulate an event with a southward interplanetary magnetic field turning and produce SXI count maps with a 5-minute integration time.By making assumptions about the magnetopause shape,we find the magnetopause standoff distance from the count maps and compare it with the one obtained directly from the magnetohydrodynamic(MHD)simulation.The root mean square deviations between the reconstructed and MHD standoff distances do not exceed 0.2 RE(Earth radius)and the maximal difference equals 0.24 RE during the 25-minute interval around the southward turning.

Space solar telescope in soft X-ray and EUV band

In this paper we have reviewed our achievements in soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) optics. Up to now, the research system of soft X-ray and EUV optics has been established, including light sources, detectors, calibrations, optical testing and machining of super smooth mirrors, and fabrications of multilayer film mirrors. Based on our achievements, we have developed two types of solar space telescopes for the soft X-ray and EUV space solar observations. One is an EUV multilayer normal incident telescope array including 4 different operation wavelength telescopes. The operation wavelengths of the EUV telescope are 13.0, 17.1, 19.5 and 30.4 nm. The other is a complex space solar telescope, which is composed of an EUV multilayer normal incident telescope and a soft X-ray grazing incident telescope. The EUV multilayer normal incident telescope stands in the central part of the soft X-ray grazing incident telescope. The normal incident telescope and the grazing incident telescope have a common detector. The different operation wavelengths can be changed by rotating a filter wheel.

Multilayer optics for the EUV and soft X-rays

The demand to enhance the optical resolution, to structure and observe ever smaller details, has pushed the way towards the EUV and soft X-rays. Induced mainly by the production of more powerful electronic circuits with the aid of projection lithography, optics developments in recent years can be characterized by the use of electromagnetic radiation with smaller wavelength. The good prospects of the EUV and soft X-rays for next generation lithography systems (λ=13.5 nm), microscopy in the “water window” (λ=2.3～4.4 nm), astronomy (λ=5～31 nm), spectroscopy, plasma diagnostics and EUV/soft X-ray laser research have led to considerable progress in the development of different multilayer optics. Since optical systems in the EUV/soft X-ray spectral region consist of several mirror elements a maximum reflectivity of each multilayer is essential for a high throughput. This paper covers recent results of the enhanced spectral behavior of Mo/Si, Cr/Sc and Sc/Si multilayer optics.

Present Status of EUV Interferometer Development at the Research Center for Soft X-ray Microscopy

A new interferometer for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation with a laser produced plasma (LPP) laboratory source is under construction. The LPP source is operated with a Sn solid rod target on which pulsed YAG laser is focused to produce high temperature plasma emitting EUV radiation. The source is equipped with a newly designed debris stopper protecting a condenser multilayer mirror from the particle debris of the target. The condenser mirror focuses the light onto an EUV beam-splitter to form transmitted and reflected paths for producing interference fringes of a sharing type. The optical configuration is of a common path based on a triangular path type with a focusing at the beam-splitter, which is enabled to produce fringes by a low coherence radiation with a standard optical quality beam-splitter. The fringes are recorded by an imaging plate with pixels as small as 25μm. The dynamic range of linearity in detection of the EUV light was found to be more than 10 4 with sensitivity of 10 4 photons/pixel, enough for the purpose of interferogram recording, possibly with one laser shot.

Readout electronics for a high-resolution soft X-ray spectrometer based on silicon drift detector

The readout electronics for a prototype soft X-ray spectrometer based on silicon drift detector(SDD),for precisely measuring the energy and arrival time of X-ray photons is presented in this paper.The system mainly consists of two parts,i.e.,an analog electronics section(including a pre-amplifier,a signal shaper and filter,a constant fraction timing circuit,and a peak hold circuit)and a digital electronics section(including an ADC and a TDC).Test results with X-ray sources show that an energy dynamic range of 1-10 keV with an integral nonlinearity of less than 0.1%can be achieved,and the energy resolution is better than 160 eV @ 5.9 keV FWHM.Using a waveform generator,test results also indicate that time resolution of the electronics system is about 3.7 ns,which is much less than the transit time spread of SDD(<100 ns)and satisfies the requirements of future applications.

Transition-metal redox evolution and its effect on thermal stability of LiNixCoyMnzO_(2) based on synchrotron soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Based on the synchrotron soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments,the fundamental electronic structures of layered Li NixCoyMnzO_(2)(NCM)are investigated systematically and the data of transitionmetal(TM)L-and O K-edges spectra are collected.Distribution of Ni ions under different oxidation states is evaluated according to linear combination fit.It is found that the ratio of Ni^(4+)expands with the increase of Ni since it dominates in charge compensation during charging,and that the existence of Ni^(3+)is nearly negligible in delithiated NCM.The valence state of Co also strongly depends on Ni content,the perceptible position shift of Co L_(3)-edge absorption peak towards higher energy in Ni-rich material agrees well with the small voltage plateau at around 4.2 V.The stability of Mn is verified as no obvious spectral change with the Mn L-edge is observed.Moreover,as Ni content rises,the O 2p holes near the Femi level increases with higher oxidation state of Ni,indicating the enhanced hybridization of O 2p-TM 3 d.Delithiated NCMs with higher Ni content are prior to lose electron existing in highly hybridized Ni3 dO 2 p bands upon heating,which accounts for the pronounced O_(2)release in phase transitions and the deterioration in thermal stability.These detailed observation of the electronic structure evolution is one of the key ingredients to improving the electrochemical and thermal performance of NCM.

Thermal Diffusion of Si Atoms at the Interface of Mo/Si Bilayers Studied with a Soft X-ray Emission Microscope

Thermal diffusion of Si atoms at the interface in Mo/Si multilayers was observed with an imaging type soft X ray emission microscope developed by us. It was possible to observe the diffusion with 0.2nm depth resolution in the direction normal to the interface by comparing the emission intensity for exactly the same position. The diffusion coefficient of Si atoms in Mo at 600℃ was roughly estimated to be 6.0×10 17 cm 2/s.

Measurement of conversion efficiency of soft X-ray from 0.35μm laser-irradiated aluminum planar targets

Conversion efficiency of soft X-ray from 0.35μm pulse laser-irradiated aluminium planar target at laser intensities 10^13- 10^15 W/cm^2 on the Xingguang-Ⅱ facility （laser energy 5 - 90 J, focal spot - Φ 200μm full width of half maximun （FWHM） 400 - 800 ps） was measured. A simple model was given to explain soft X-ray conversion efficiency. In this model, because of the heat conduction from the laser-heated spot, the conversion was very small at lower irradiance limit, while at higher limit it was bounded by the energy lost in blow off plasma. Consequently, at the laser intensity around 2×10^14 W/cm^2 , the X-ray conversion efficiency reaches a maximum.

Fabrication of a 256-bits organic memory by soft x-ray lithography

This paper reports a procedure of soft x-ray lithography for the fabrication of an organic crossbar structure. Electron beam lithography is employed to fabricate the mask for soft x-ray lithography, with direct writing technology to the lithograph positive resist and polymethyl methacrylate on the polyimide film. Then Au is electroplated on the polyimide film. Hard contact mode exposure is used in x-ray lithography to transfer the graph from the mask to the wafer. The 256-bits organic memory is achieved with the critical dimension of 250 nm.

Charge compensation and capacity fading in LiCoO2 at high voltage investigated by soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy

In order to obtain an in-depth insight into the mechanism of charge compensation and capacity fading in LiCoO2, the evolution of electronic structure of LiCoO2 at different cutoff voltages and after different cycles are studied by soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy in total electron（TEY） and fluorescence（TFY） detection modes, which provide surface and bulk information, respectively. The spectra of Co L2,3-edge indicate that Co contributes to charge compensation below 4.4 V.Combining with the spectra of O K-edge, it manifests that only O contributes to electron compensation above 4.4 V with the formation of local O 2 p holes both on the surface and in the bulk, where the surficial O evolves more remarkably. The evolution of the O 2 p holes gives an explanation to the origin of O2^-or even O2. A comparison between the TEY and TFY of O K-edge spectra of LiCoO2 cycled in a range from 3 V to 4.6 V indicates both the structural change in the bulk and aggregation of lithium salts on the electrode surface are responsible for the capacity fading. However, the latter is found to play a more important role after many cycles.

The recent development of soft x-ray interference lithography in SSRF

This paper introduces the recent progress in methodologies and their related applications based on the soft x-ray interference lithography beamline in the Shanghai synchrotron radiation facility.Dual-beam,multibeam interference lithography and Talbot lithography have been adopted as basic methods in the beamline.To improve the experimental performance,a precise real-time vibration evaluation system has been established;and the lithography stability has been greatly improved.In order to meet the demands for higher resolution and practical application,novel experimental methods have been developed,such as high-order diffraction interference exposure,high-aspect-ratio and large-area stitching exposure,and parallel direct writing achromatic Talbot lithography.As of now,a 25 nm half-pitch pattern has been obtained;and a cm2 exposure area has been achieved in practical samples.The above methods have been applied to extreme ultraviolet photoresist evaluation,photonic crystal and surface plasmonic effect research,and so on.

Study of sawtooth oscillations on the HT-7 tokamak using 2D tomography of soft x-ray signal

It is the first time so far as we know that two arrays of multi-channel soft x-ray detectors are used to generate twodimensional （2D） images of sawtooth oscillation on the HT-7 tokamak using the Fourier-Bessel harmonic reconstruction method, and using the singular value decomposition to analyse the data from soft x-ray cameras. By these two arrays, 2D image reconstruction of soft x-ray emissivity can be obtained without assumption of plasma rigid rotation. Tomographic reconstruction of the m=1 mode structure is obtained during the precursor oscillation of the sawtooth crash. The crescent-shaped mode structure appearing on the contour map of the soft x-ray emissivity is consistent with the quasiinterchange mode. The characteristics of the m=1/n=1 mode structure observed in the soft x-ray tomography are as follows： the magnetic surface is made up of the crescent-shaped “hot core” and the circular “cold bubble”. The structure of the magnetic surface rotates in the direction of the electron diamagnetic drift and the rotation frequency is the oscillation frequency of soft x-ray signals.

A Perspective on Studying Electronic Structure of Batteries through Soft X-ray Spectroscopy

Understanding electronic structure is crucial to enhance the battery performance. Soft X-ray spectroscopy(SXS) is one of the most effective methods to provide direct probe of electronic states. Here, spectroscopic measurements of transition metal 3 d and oxygen 2 p states are simply reviewed. Then, we mainly focus on the perspective of the development direction of modern SXS techniques. Although the true power of recently developed high efficiency mapping of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering(m RIXS) has been apparent for materials and chemistry studies, great challenges remain for mRIXS spectroscopic interpretation, and the understanding of the battery materials on novel redox activities remains elusive.