Indirect glass slumping of grazing incidence mirror segments for lightweight X-ray telescopes

The paper provides a description of recent progress in the development of lightweight, precision and high throughput grazing-incidence mirrors for X-ray astronomy made of glass. In particular, the indirect slumping technology under investigation at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) is reviewed and recent activities are presented together with the research approach. The glass slumping technique foresees several steps: a thermal forming process using a suitable mould; a reflective layer application; the alignment and integration of mirror segments into a supporting structure; and the final verification of prototype modules using X-rays. Each step is considered at MPE, with the involvement of partner institutes and universities. The last year of activities was mainly dedicated to the procurement of new moulds and to the application of Iridium coating. The main results will be presented.