This presentation focuses on the use of arrays of Micro Pore Optics (MPOs) to create large field of view lobster eye telescopes. The University of Leicester has been at the forefront of this technology since 1991 when Fraser et al. presented the idea at SPIE. I will discuss the history of using Microchannel Plates (MCPs) as optics from the initial lab experiments which demonstrated their performance, up to the new laboratory experiments we are running to further develop and improve the technology. The missions which have employed these optics, from the already launched BepiColombo to upcoming missions such as SVOM, SMILE and Einstein Probe, will be presented. Recent results and discoveries from the LEIA mission, launched July 2022, will also be shown. Ideas for future missions and further research areas will also be considered.

We have been developing an ultra-lightweight Wolter type-I X-ray telescope fabricated with micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) technologies for GEO-X (GEOspace X-ray Imager) mission. GEO-X will aim global imaging of the Earth's magnetosphere using X-rays. The telescope is our original micropore optics which is light in weight (~5 g), compact with a short focal length (~250 mm), and has a wide field-of-view (~5 deg x 5 deg). In this talk we show developed assembly processes to meet the requirements of the GEO-X mission and the telescope's X-ray imaging performance as an engineering model with this method.

We have been developing silicon foil X-ray optics using a hot plastic deformation process for future astronomical observations. Our foil mirror is made of a 0.3-mm thick silicon wafer and is plastically deformed into a high-accurate conical shape with a curvature radius of ~100 mm. The angular resolution we evaluated using a test sample mirror was ~32 arcseconds in the best region. We have also successfully coated a platinum film on the foil mirror using the atomic layer deposition process. In this talk, we report on the fabrication method and the X-ray imaging capability of our silicon foil X-ray optics.

Development of the third generation X-ray synchrotron facilities, beginning in the 1990s offered the prospect of powerful tunable X-ray beams for a broad range of applications and, along with it, a host of beamline and optics challenges. One of the main challenges stemmed from the high power (kWs) of the X-ray beams: beamline and optical components capable of handling the high heat loads of the beams had to be developed and tested. Another challenge was, and remains, the development of precision optical elements that preserve X-ray beam quality. In this talk and based on firsthand experience, I review the development of a number of beamline and optical components, from inception to completion, with emphasis on the lessons learned in the process.

EUV/SXR induced plasmas can be produced by interaction of intense X-ray or extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation beams with gases. Ionization of molecules can result in further dissociation to ionic and neutral species. In this work investigations of the EUV induced plasmas with a relatively high electron density were performed using laser-produced plasma (LPP) EUV or soft X-ray sources. LPPs were produced by irradiation of a double stream gas puff target with xenon as the working gas. EUV or SXR radiation was focused using grazing incidence collectors of different type. EUV irradiation of gases resulted in ionization and excitation of atoms and molecules forming low temperature plasmas. Spatio-temporal behavior of this type of plasmas formed in various gases was investigated using an optical streak camera. Significant differences concerning temporal changes of the optical emission from plasmas created in molecular and atomic gases were revealed. Spectral measurements in a wide range were also performed. The most intense emission lines were assigned to singly charged ions or atoms. Various molecular bands were also detected.