Design of a high-resolution extreme-ultraviolet imaging spectrometer with aberration-corrected concave gratings.

A high-resolution extreme-ultraviolet imaging spectrometer is designed for the Japanese solar mission Solar-B. A spherical varied-line-space (SVLS) grating and a toroidal uniform-line-space (TULS) grating are chosen as candidates for use in the spectrometer to yield high spectral and spatial resolution within the spectral range 25-29 nm. The spectral image-focusing properties and the mechanical tolerances for fabrication and alignment are compared for the two types of grating. The SVLS design is found to be superior to the TULS design for off-plane spectral images and in ease of fabrication and optical alignment.