Glass chemical bonding for grazing-incidence x-ray telescopes based on monolithic ribbed structures

High angular resolution poses significant challenges to all space optical systems, particularly x-ray grazing incidence mirrors with high mass-to-area ratios. Improving resolution usually requires thicker substrates to reduce deformations, but this decreases throughput. However, using thinner mirrors can enhance throughput by minimizing vignetting and increasing the collecting area. Future large-mirror missions require wide diameters; a tasseled primary mirror, like those in JWST, Roman, and HWO, offers a solution for IR/Visible/, and UV telescopes. In X-ray astronomy, the Chandra Observatory is the reference mission for high angular resolution, with four thick nested shells, exemplifies achieving < 1 arcsec HEW. Upcoming missions, such as NewAthena, AXIS, and LYNX, aim to cover large areas and achieve high resolution using segmented petal shells; however, issues related to mechanical stiffness versus resolution remain. This study proposes a new X-ray optics concept that combines Chandra’s high resolution and stiffness with Athena’s modularity, featuring a design where glass segments are chemically bonded into monolithic stacks. A proof-of-concept is underway, and initial results and potential applications will be discussed.