Volume manufacturability of reflection gratings

A critical area of study for X-ray reflection grating technology is understanding considerations that come with volume manufacturability; for example, the Lynx XGS called for nearly 10,000 reflection gratings in its array. Key questions to be considered in this presentation include: How will X-ray reflection gratings transition from a research and development laboratory environment to a factory environment for flight grating production? Are the various steps within reflection grating production optimized for volume manufacture? How do our current designs hold up when considering cost, schedule, and determinism in manufacturing? Questions such as these must be considered throughout the technology development lifecycle to ensure that any future X-ray spectrometer utilizing reflection gratings can be manufactured on schedule and on budget.

An upcoming study of volume manufacturing of reflection gratings is discussed. These studies will examine the current manufacturing process in the laboratory environment, including process time and variance for each step, to determine the number of manufacturing “servers” required for volume production in a factory environment. During this time, the Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) will be assessed to track how close manufacture is to full rate production with lean production practices in place.

Finally, time allowing, the concept of co-maturing MRL and Technology Readiness Level will be discussed.