SUPERFLAT PCP Process development for manufacture of flat X-ray mirrors

Description

This contract award notice informs interested operators about the outcome of Phase 3 of a pre-commercial procurement (PCP) that aims to trigger new solutions to be developed and tested to address the following challenge: manufacturing 500 mm long flat silicon X-ray prototype mirrors with < 50 nanoradians rms slope and < 1 nm p.v. figure errors. This PCP procurement is a joint procurement by different procurers across Europe. Lot 1: The procurement takes the form of a pre-commercial procurement (PCP). The PCP will award R&D services contracts to a number of R&D providers in parallel to compare competing alternative solutions. This will be done in a phased approach with a framework agreement that covers 3 R&D phases (conceptual design, technical design and metrology validation, development of a manufacturing process & prototyping ) with intermediate evaluations after each phase that will progressively select the best competing solutions that will be offered a specific contract for the next phase. Testing of the prototypes is expected to take place at one of the buyer's premises by experts and end-users and in this way the PCP will provide a first customer test reference to participating R&D providers. This PCP will develop flat X-ray mirrors with clear apertures in excess of 500 mm long and 20 mm wide; slope and figure errors below 50 nanoradians rms and 1 nm p.v. respectively, and with roughness below 0.3 nm rms. The objective is to improve the quality of X-ray mirrors in response to the evolving needs of accelerator-based X-ray light sources. The initiative is driven in particular by the construction and upgrade of many European user facilities to provide ultra-low emittance X-ray beams for scientists and engineers working in applications addressing many of the global challenges targeted by the Horizon Europe program of the European Commission. To harness their full potential, these facilities require reflective optics of unprecedented quality. The technical challenges include the implementation of reliable and repeatable surface processing tools coupled with accurate metrology. The final result of the PCP will be a prototype mirror produced by each tenderer with a demonstrably controlled manufacturing process. Apart from the direct benefits to the European light sources, the results of this PCP will also act to enhance European industrial competitiveness in this domain. This procurement is exempted from the EU public procurement directives and the national laws that implement them.