SBIR Phase II: Lobster-Eye X-Ray Imaging Sensor

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will develop an innovative Lobster Eye X-ray Imaging Sensor (LEXIS) for the observation of x-ray precipitation during long-term high-altitude balloon flights. The pinhole x-ray cameras currently used in such flights have very limited spatial resolution, and need significantly improved sensitivity. The proposed sensor will have a large-field-of-view x-ray lens fabricated of long metal microchannels. With this lens, the LEXIS will have significantly higher angular resolution and higher sensitivity than pinhole cameras. Phase II efforts will culminate in fabrication and testing of a full-scale LEXIS prototype capable of focusing on both soft and hard x-rays. LEXIS will bring unprecedented resolution to the investigation of boreal sources of x-rays. The proposed research will yield a new kind of x-ray optics that overcomes the limitations and shortcomings of current instruments. The lobster eye optics will dramatically improve the resolution of security screening x-ray equipment. It will enhance the penetration capability of screening equipment, more reliably detecting hazardous or illegal materials within thick metal containers. The technology to be developed for fabricating lobster eye optics will be applied to the fabrication of antiscatter grids for medical x-ray detector arrays.