Recent advances in EUV optics for use in solar physics

Abstract

High-resolution observations with Hinode have shown that understanding the interface between the solar photosphere and the corona requires the ability to study the transition region by imaging plasma heated to around 500,000 K on spatial scales of ~ 0.2 arc seconds and at a cadence of ~5 seconds or less. And how this interface of the solar atmosphere ranges in temperatures from 10 ⁴ - 10 ⁷ K continues to be an area of active research in heliophysics. Although the much celebrated launch of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) is revealing activity of the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) corona and chromosphere, down to ~1 arc seconds resolution with ~10 seconds cadence, there is a continuing need to improve our observational capabilities at EUV wavelengths. Therefore, the next generation EUV imager for use in heliophysics will need to have the capability of improving performance in all three of these observational categories in order to obtain higher thermal, spatial and temporal resolution of the solar atmosphere. Herein, we present results that demonstrate our ability to estimate EUV performance as well as experimental data that show the viability of using SiC for fabricating the next-generation of space-based EUV telescopes.