Effect of mirror curvature on the angular resolution of silicon pore optics

Silicon Pore Optics are a novel technology for focusing high-energy photons, where pairs of mirror plates stacked into mirror modules. This paper presents a study of the angular resolution of SPO mirror assemblies, using a selection of sagittal mirror curvatures. Results were achieved by ray-tracing the different configurations of the mirror with the ray tracing software SPORT, or Silicon Pore Optics Ray Tracer, using an observation of the Crab Nebula originally obtained by Chandra. It is found that a true Wolter geometry most closely reproduces the original image, while geometries with a conic approximation on either their primary or secondary mirrors create the most diffuse image. A geometry with conic approximations on both primary and secondary mirrors falls in between the two extremes.