Indirect Slumping of D263 Glass on Fused Silica Mould

The Slumped Glass Optic (SGO) group of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial physics (MPE) is studying the indirect slumping technology for its application to X-ray telescope manufacturing. Several aspects of the technology have been analyzed in the past. During the last months, we concentrated our activities on the slumping of Schott D263 glass on a precise machined Fused Silica mould: The concave mould was produced by the Italian company Media Lario Technologies with the parabola and hyperbola side of the typical Wolter I design in one single piece. Its shape quality was estimated by optical metrology to be around 6 arcsec Half Energy Width (HEW) in double reflection. The application of an anti-sticking Boron Nitride layer was necessary to avoid the adhesion of the glass on the mould during the forming process at high temperatures. The mould has been used for the slumping of seven mirror segments 200 mm long, 100 mm wide, and with thickness of 200 μm or 400 μm. The influence of the holding time at maximum temperature was explored in this first run of tests. The current results of the activities are described in the paper and plans for further investigations are outlined.