arXiv subjects

Yoshiki Kohmura

Publications and source records attributed to Yoshiki Kohmura.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Development of Electroformed X-ray Optics Bridging Synchrotron Technology and Space Astronomy

We have developed X-ray telescope mirrors using an original electroforming replication technique established through the fabrication of millimeter-aperture, ultra-short-focal-length nanofocusing mirrors for synchrotron X-ray microscopy. This paper presents detailed results of X-ray illumination tests of a 60-mm-diameter, full-circumference, double-reflection monolithic electroformed nickel mirror and its Mirror Module Assembly (MMA). The experiments were conducted at the 1-km beamline BL29XUL at SPring-8. To simulate a parallel X-ray beam from celestial sources, we constructed a dedicated evaluation system, the High-Brilliance X-ray Kilometer-long Large-Area Expanded-beam Evaluation System (HBX-KLAEES). Owing to the high photon flux and the quasi-point-like source with a small divergence provided by HBX-KLAEES, the imaging performance was evaluated with high fidelity, resolving both the sharp core and large-angle components of the Point Spread Function (PSF). The results show an extremely sharp core with a Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of 0.7 arcsec and a Half Power Diameter (HPD) of 14 arcsec, even after integration into the MMA. In addition, a positive correlation was found between angular resolution and axial figure error in both the primary and secondary mirror sections, indicating that axial figure errors contribute to image degradation. Based on these results, the MMA was selected as one of the hard X-ray optics for the FOXSI-4 sounding rocket experiment, which performs high-resolution soft and hard X-ray imaging spectroscopy of solar flares and was successfully launched. These results demonstrate the potential for further improvements in angular resolution and the development of high-resolution, ultra-short focal length X-ray optics for small satellites, including CubeSats.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2018

Microscope for X-ray orbital angular momentum imaging

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) of photons is carried upon the wave front of an optical vortex and is important in physics research due to its fundamental degree of freedom. As for the interaction with materials, the optical OAM was shown to be transferred to the valence electron based on modified selection rules where a single ion is carefully aligned to the center of a vortex [Schmiegelow et al.(2016)]. We here demonstrate an elaborate way of extracting the distributed OAMs in the two-dimensional x-ray wave field at the exit-face of the specimen by a vorticity-sensitive microscopy, which detects vorticity in the reciprocal-space wave field downstream of the optical vortices. This method enables us to measure the distributed topological charges and OAMs by a single image with the wide field of view over 300 $μ$m. Among various wavelength, the research of x-ray OAM is especially interesting since it could be closely related to the predicted OAM-induced x-ray dichroism [Veenendaal et al.(2007)].

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2014

Development and Performance of Kyoto's X-ray Astronomical SOI pixel (SOIPIX) sensor

We have been developing monolithic active pixel sensors, known as Kyoto's X-ray SOIPIXs, based on the CMOS SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology for next-generation X-ray astronomy satellites. The event trigger output function implemented in each pixel offers microsecond time resolution and enables reduction of the non-X-ray background that dominates the high X-ray energy band above 5--10 keV. A fully depleted SOI with a thick depletion layer and back illumination offers wide band coverage of 0.3--40 keV. Here, we report recent progress in the X-ray SOIPIX development. In this study, we achieved an energy resolution of 300~eV (FWHM) at 6~keV and a read-out noise of 33~e- (rms) in the frame readout mode, which allows us to clearly resolve Mn-K$α$ and K$β$. Moreover, we produced a fully depleted layer with a thickness of $500~{\rm μm}$. The event-driven readout mode has already been successfully demonstrated.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2000

The Nature of Ultra-Luminous Compact X-Ray Sources in Nearby Spiral Galaxies

Studies were made of ASCA spectra of seven ultra-luminous compact X-ray sources (ULXs) in nearby spiral galaxies; M33 X-8 (Takano et al. 1994), M81 X-6 (Fabbiano 1988b; Kohmura et al. 1994; Uno 1997), IC 342 Source 1 (Okada et al. 1998), Dwingeloo 1 X-1 (Reynolds et al. 1997), NGC 1313 Source B (Fabbiano & Trinchieri 1987; Petre et al. 1994), and two sources in NGC 4565 (Mizuno et al. 1999). With the 0.5--10 keV luminosities in the range 10^{39-40} ergs/s, they are thought to represent a class of enigmatic X-ray sources often found in spiral galaxies. For some of them, the ASCA data are newly processed, or the published spectra are reanalyzed. For others, the published results are quoted. The ASCA spectra of all these seven sources have been described successfully with so called multi-color disk blackbody (MCD) emission arising from optically-thick standard accretion disks around black holes. Except the case of M33 X-8, the spectra do not exhibit hard tails. For the source luminosities not to exceed the Eddington limits, the black holes are inferred to have rather high masses, up to ~100 solar masses. However, the observed innermost disk temperatures of these objects, Tin = 1.1--1.8 keV, are too high to be compatible with the required high black-hole masses, as long as the standard accretion disks around Schwarzschild black holes are assumed. Similarly high disk temperatures are also observed from two Galactic transients with superluminal motions, GRO 1655-40 and GRS 1915+105. The issue of unusually high disk temperature may be explained by the black hole rotation, which makes the disk get closer to the black hole, and hence hotter.

astro-ph↗