Developing X-ray Optics and Grating Technologies for Astrophysics
(Casey deRoo, U Iowa, Dec 2022)

Title: Developing X-ray Optics & Gratings Technologies for Astrophysics

Speaker: Casey deRoo (University of Iowa)

date and time: Wednesday November 7th, 2022 – 2pm PST

Location: Advanced Light Source, remote: zoom (link)

Abstract: The field of X-ray astronomy is relatively young, with the first detection of an extrasolar X-ray source happening only ~60 years ago. Since then, a number of instruments have illuminated (or rather, been illuminated by) the X-ray Universe, giving us insights into high energy phenomena like accreting black holes, supernovae, and outflows from active galactic nuclei (AGN).

In this talk, I will focus on the technologies that make X-ray astronomy possible. In particular, I’ll focus on two technologies under study at the University of Iowa: (1) the manufacture of customized gratings made with electron-beam lithography (EBL), which requires shaping features < 100 nm in size, and (2) the fabrication and operation of adjustable X-ray optics, which offer control of a X-ray mirror’s figure after mounting. These technologies enable missions addressing outstanding questions of how the Universe works on the largest scales, such as how supermassive black holes interact with their host galaxies over cosmic time and where half of the “missing” normal matter might be located.

About the speaker: Prof. Casey DeRoo specializes in X-ray astronomical instrumentation and observation. He received his Ph. D. from the University of Iowa in 2016, where he worked on techniques to fabricate X-ray gratings for future astronomical missions. He then was awarded the Leon van Speybroeck Postdoctoral Fellowship in X-ray Optics at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, MA, where he was then appointed as an Astrophysicist. He joined the faculty of the University of Iowa in 2018. In 2021, Casey received the Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowship from NASA’s Astrophysics Division, an early career award designed to foster future leaders in astrophysics instrumentation.