Characterization of an X-ray mirror mechanical bender for the European XFEL.

One of the classical devices used to tune a mirror on an X-ray optical setup is a mechanical bender. This is often designed in such a way that the mirror is held with clamps on both ends; a motor is then used to put a torque on the clamps, inducing a cylindrical shape of the mirror surface. A mechanical bender with this design was recently characterized, to bend a 950 mm-long mirror up to a radius of curvature of 10 km. The characterization was performed using a large-aperture Fizeau interferometer with an angled incidence setup. Some particular and critical effects were investigated, such as calibration, hysteresis, twisting and long-term stability.