Abstract

In the X-ray and ultraviolet spectral region thin metal foil filters are used extensively both in laboratory and space applications near room temperature. The X-ray spectrometer (XRS), which is being developed for one of the focal plane instruments of the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), requires filters with high X-ray transmittance and also high background rejection, operating at cryogenic temperatures. The operating temperature is between 1.5K-245K, and will vary for each filter in the assembly. Thin metal foil filters can provide high X-ray transmittance and also the required rejection for low energy radiation. However, thin metal foil filters have not been used at cryogenic temperatures and, therefore, their performance and survivability in this environment has to be evaluated.

© 1988 Optical Society of America