This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 9601, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, Introduction (if any), and Conference Committee listing.

The demand for higher resolution x-ray optics (a few arcseconds or better) in the areas of astrophysics and solar science has, in turn, driven the development of complementary detectors. These detectors should have fine pixels, necessary to appropriately oversample the optics at a given focal length, and an energy response also matched to that of the optics. Rutherford Appleton Laboratory have developed a 3-side buttable, 20 mm x 20 mm CdTe-based detector with 250 μm square pixels (80x80 pixels) which achieves 1 keV FWHM @ 60 keV and gives full spectroscopy between 5 keV and 200 keV. An added advantage of these detectors is that they have a full-frame readout rate of 10 kHz. Working with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Marshall Space Flight Center, 4 of these 1mm-thick CdTe detectors are tiled into a 2x2 array for use at the focal plane of a balloon-borne hard-x-ray telescope, and a similar configuration could be suitable for astrophysics and solar space-based missions. This effort encompasses the fabrication and testing of flightsuitable front-end electronics and calibration of the assembled detector arrays. We explain the operation of the pixelated ASIC readout and measurements, front-end electronics development, preliminary X-ray imaging and spectral performance, and plans for full calibration of the detector assemblies. Work done in conjunction with the NASA Centers is funded through the NASA Science Mission Directorate Astrophysics Research and Analysis Program.

We present the first results from the Off-plane Grating Rocket for Extended Source Spectroscopy (OGRESS) sounding rocket payload based at the University of Iowa. OGRESS is designed to perform moderate resolution (R~10- 40) spectroscopy of diffuse celestial x-ray sources between 0.3 – 1.2 keV. A wire grid focuser constrains light from diffuse sources into a converging beam that feeds an array of off-plane diffraction gratings. The spectrum is focused onto Gaseous Electron Multiplier (GEM) detectors. OGRESS launched on the morning of May 2, 2015 and collected data for ~5 minutes before returning via parachute. OGRESS observed the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant with the goal of obtaining the most accurate physical diagnostics thus far recorded. During the flight, OGRESS had an unexpectedly high count rate which manifested as a highly uniform signal across the active area of the detector, swamping the expected spectrum from Cygnus. Efforts are still in progress to identify the source of this uniform signal and to discover if a usable spectrum can be extracted from the raw flight data.

The Off-plane Grating Rocket Experiment (OGRE) is a high resolution soft X-ray spectrometer sub-orbital rocket payload designed as a technology development platform for three low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) components. The incident photons will be focused using a light-weight, high resolution, single-crystal silicon optic. They are then dispersed conically according to wavelength by an array of off-plane gratings before being detected in a focal plane camera comprised of four Electron Multiplying Charge-Coupled Devices (EM-CCDs). While CCDs have been extensively used in space applications; EM-CCDs are seldom used in this environment and even more rarely for X-ray photon counting applications, making them a potential technology risk for larger scale X-ray observatories. This paper will discuss the reasons behind choosing EM-CCDs for the focal plane detector and the developments that have been recently made in the prototype camera electronics and thermal control system.

Photon counting detector systems on sounding rocket payloads often require interfacing asynchronous outputs with a synchronously clocked telemetry stream. Though this can be handled with an on-board computer, there are several low cost alternatives including custom hardware, microcontrollers, and Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). This paper outlines how a telemetry interface for detectors on a sounding rocket with asynchronous parallel digital output can be implemented using low cost FPGAs and minimal custom hardware. It also discusses how this system can be tested with a simulated telemetry chain in the small laboratory setting.

During its first 16 years of operation, the cold (about -60°C) optical blocking filter of the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS), aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory, has accumulated a growing layer of molecular contamination that attenuates low-energy x rays. Over the past few years, the accumulation rate, spatial distribution, and composition have changed. This evolution has motivated further analysis of contamination migration within and near the ACIS cavity, in part to evaluate potential bake-out scenarios intended to reduce the level of contamination.

ATHENA is the L2 mission selected by ESA to pursue the science theme “Hot and Energetic Universe” (launch scheduled in 2028). One of the key instruments of ATHENA is the Wide Field Imager (WFI) which will provide imaging in the 0.1-15 keV band over a 40’x40’ large field of view, together with spectrally and time-resolved photon counting. The WFI camera, based on arrays of DEPFET active pixel sensors, is also sensitive to UV/Vis photons. Optically generated electron-hole pairs may degrade the spectral resolution as well as change the energy scale by introducing a signal offset. For this reason, the use of an X-ray transparent optical blocking filter is needed to allow the observation of all type of X-ray sources that present a UV/Visible bright counterpart. In this paper, we describe the main activities that we are carrying on for the conceptual design of the optical blocking filter, that will be mounted on the filter wheel, in order to satisfy the scientific requirements on optical load from bright UV/Vis astrophysical source, to maximize the X-ray transmission, and to withstand the severe acoustic and vibration loads foreseen during launch.

The work reports on the development of a Strontium Iodide Coded Aperture (SICA) instrument for use in space-based astrophysics, solar physics, and high-energy atmospheric physics. The Naval Research Laboratory is developing a prototype coded aperture imager that will consist of an 8 x 8 array of SrI₂:Eu detectors, each read out by a silicon photomultiplier. The array would be used to demonstrate SrI₂:Eu detector performance for space-based missions. Europium-doped strontium iodide (SrI₂:Eu) detectors have recently become available, and the material is a strong candidate to replace existing detector technology currently used for space-based gamma-ray astrophysics research. The detectors have a typical energy resolution of 3.2% at 662 keV, a significant improvement over the 6.5% energy resolution of thallium-doped sodium iodide. With a density of 4.59 g/cm and a Z_eff of 49, SrI₂:Eu has a high efficiency for MeV gamma-ray detection. Coupling this with recent improvements in silicon photomultiplier technology (i.e., no bulky photomultiplier tubes) creates high-density, large-area, low-power detector arrays with good energy resolution. Also, the energy resolution of SrI2:Eu makes it ideal for use as the back plane of a Compton telescope.

We present the characterization of a new event-driven X-ray hybrid CMOS detector developed by Penn State University in collaboration with Teledyne Imaging Sensors. Along with its low susceptibility to radiation damage, low power consumption, and fast readout time to avoid pile-up, the Speedster-EXD has been designed with the capability to limit its readout to only those pixels containing charge, thus enabling even faster effective frame rates. The threshold for the comparator in each pixel can be set by the user so that only pixels with signal above the set threshold are read out. The Speedster-EXD hybrid CMOS detector also has two new in-pixel features that reduce noise from known noise sources: (1) a low-noise, high-gain CTIA amplifier to eliminate crosstalk from interpixel capacitance (IPC) and (2) in-pixel CDS subtraction to reduce kTC noise. We present the read noise, dark current, IPC, energy resolution, and gain variation measurements of one Speedster-EXD detector.

The Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) is an X-ray CCD camera onboard the ASTRO-H X-ray observatory. The CCD chip used is a P-channel back-illuminated type, and has a 200-µm thick depletion layer, with which the SXI covers the energy range between 0.4 keV and 12 keV. Its imaging area has a size of 31 mm x 31 mm. We arrange four of the CCD chips in a 2 by 2 grid so that we can cover a large field-of-view of 38’ x 38’. We cool the CCDs to -120 °C with a single-stage Stirling cooler. As was done for the CCD camera of the Suzaku satellite, XIS, artificial charges are injected to selected rows in order to recover charge transfer inefficiency due to radiation damage caused by in-orbit cosmic rays. We completed fabrication of flight models of the SXI and installed them into the satellite. We verified the performance of the SXI in a series of satellite tests. On-ground calibrations were also carried out and detailed studies are ongoing.

The displacement damage hardness that can be achieved using p-channel charge coupled devices (CCD) was originally demonstrated in 1997 and since then a number of other studies have demonstrated an improved tolerance to radiationinduced CTI when compared to n-channel CCDs. A number of recent studies have also shown that the temperature history of the device after the irradiation impacts the performance of the detector, linked to the mobility of defects at different temperatures. This study describes the initial results from an e2v technologies p-channel CCD204 irradiated at 153 K with a 10 MeV equivalent proton fluences of 1.24×10⁹ and 1.24×10¹¹ protons.cm-2. The number of defects identified using trap pumping, dark current and cosmetic quality immediately after irradiation and over a period of 150 hours after the irradiation with the device held at 153 K and then after different periods of time at room temperature are described. The device also exhibited a flatband voltage shift of around 30 mV per krad, determined by the reduction in full well capacity.

The WFI (Wide Field Imager) instrument is planned to be one of two complementary focal plane cameras on ESA’s next X-ray observatory Athena. It combines unprecedented survey power through its large field of view of 40 arcmin x 40 arcmin together with excellent count-rate capability (≥ 1 Crab). The energy resolution of the silicon sensor is state-of-the-art in the energy band of interest from 0.2 keV to 15 keV, e.g. the full width at half maximum of a line at 6 keV will be ≤ 150 eV until the end of the nominal mission phase. This performance is accomplished by using DEPFET active pixel sensors with a pixel size of 130 μm x 130 μm well suited to the on-axis angular resolution of 5 arcsec of the mirror system. Each DEPFET pixel is a combined detector-amplifier structure with a MOSFET integrated onto a fully depleted 450 μm thick silicon bulk. Two different types of DEPFET sensors are planned for the WFI instrument: A set of four large-area sensors to cover the physical size of 14 cm x 14 cm in the focal plane and a single smaller gateable DEPFET sensor matrix optimized for high count-rate observations. Here we present the conceptual design of the instrument with focus on the critical subsystems and describe the instrument performance expectations. An outline of the model philosophy and the project organization completes the presentation.

The Lightweight Asymmetry and Magnetism Probe (LAMP) is a micro-satellite mission concept dedicated for astronomical X-ray polarimetry and is currently under early phase study. It consists of segmented paraboloidal multilayer mirrors with a collecting area of about 1300 cm2 to reflect and focus 250 eV X-rays, which will be detected by position sensitive detectors at the focal plane. The primary targets of LAMP include the thermal emission from the surface of pulsars and synchrotron emission produced by relativistic jets in blazars. With the expected sensitivity, it will allow us to detect polarization or place a tight upper limit for about 10 pulsars and 20 blazars. In addition to measuring magnetic structures in these objects, LAMP will also enable us to discover bare quark stars if they exist, whose thermal emission is expected to be zero polarized, while the thermal emission from neutron stars is believed to be highly polarized due to plasma polarization and the quantum electrodynamics (QED) effect. Here we present an overview of the mission concept, its science objectives and simulated observational results.

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory continues to provide an unparalleled means for exploring the high-energy universe. With its half-arcsecond angular resolution, Chandra studies have deepened our understanding of galaxy clusters, active galactic nuclei, galaxies, supernova remnants, neutron stars, black holes, and solar system objects. As we look beyond Chandra, it is clear that comparable or even better angular resolution with greatly increased photon throughput is essential to address ever more demanding science questions—such as the formation and growth of black hole seeds at very high redshifts; the emergence of the first galaxy groups; and details of feedback over a large range of scales from galaxies to galaxy clusters. Recently, we initiated a concept study for such a mission, dubbed X-ray Surveyor. The X-ray Surveyor strawman payload is comprised of a high-resolution mirror assembly and an instrument set, which may include an X-ray microcalorimeter, a high-definition imager, and a dispersive grating spectrometer and its readout. The mirror assembly will consist of highly nested, thin, grazing-incidence mirrors, for which a number of technical approaches are currently under development—including adjustable X-ray optics, differential deposition, and new polishing techniques applied to a variety of substrates. This study benefits from previous studies of large missions carried out over the past two decades and, in most areas, points to mission requirements no more stringent than those of Chandra.

ATHENA, Europe’s next generation x-ray telescope, has recently been selected for the 'L2' slot in ESA's Cosmic Vision Programme, with a mandate to address the 'Hot and Energetic Universe' Cosmic Vision science theme. The mission is currently in the Assessment/Definition Phase (A/B1), with a view to formal adoption after a successful System Requirements Review in 2019. This paper will describe the reference mission architecture and spacecraft design produced during Phase 0 by the ESA Concurrent Design Facility (CDF), in response to the technical requirements and programmatic boundary conditions. The main technical requirements and their mapping to resulting design choices will be presented, at both mission and spacecraft level. An overview of the spacecraft design down to subsystem level will then be presented (including the telescope and instruments), remarking on the critically-enabling technologies where appropriate. Finally, a programmatic overview will be given of the on-going Assessment Phase, and a snapshot of the prospects for securing the ‘as-proposed’ mission within the cost envelope will be given.

We present an overview of the detector for the upcoming Faint Intergalactic Red-shifted Emission Balloon (FIREBall-2) experiment, with a particular focus on the development of device-integrated optical coatings and detector quantum efficiency (QE). FIREBall-2 is designed to measure emission from the strong resonance lines of HI, OVI, and CIV, all red-shifted to 195-225 nm window; its detector is a delta-doped electron multiplying charge coupled device (EM-CCD). Delta-doped arrays, invented at JPL, achieve 100% internal QE from the UV through the visible. External losses due to reflection (~70% in some UV regions) can be mitigated with antireflection coatings (ARCs). Using atomic layer deposition (ALD), thin-film optical filters are incorporated with existing detector technologies. ALD offers nanometer-scale control over film thickness and interface quality, allowing for precision growth of multilayer films. Several AR coatings, including single and multi-layer designs, were tested for FIREBall-2. QE measurements match modeled transmittance behavior remarkably well, showing improved performance in the target wavelength range. Also under development are ALD coatings to enhance QE for a variety of spectral regions throughout the UV (90-320 nm) and visible (320-1000 nm) range both for space-based imaging and spectroscopy as well as for ground-based telescopes.

The Faint Intergalactic-medium Redshifted Emission Balloon (FIREBall-2) is an experiment designed to observe low density emission from HI, CIV, and OVI in the circum-galactic medium around low-redshift galaxies. To detect this diffuse emission, we use a high-efficiency photon-counting EMCCD as part of FIREBall-2's detector. The flight camera system includes a custom printed circuit board, a mechanical cryo-cooler, zeolite and charcoal getters, and a Nüvü controller, for fast read-out speeds and waveform shaping. Here we report on overall detector system performance, including pressure and temperature stability. We describe dark current and CIC measurements at several temperatures and substrate voltages, with the flight set-up.

Solar glint suppression is an important consideration in the design of compact photon-counting ultraviolet spectrographs. Southwest Research Institute developed the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (launch in 2009), and the Ultraviolet Spectrograph on Juno (Juno-UVS, launch in 2011). Both of these compact spectrographs revealed minor solar glints in flight that did not appear in pre-launch analyses. These glints only appeared when their respective spacecraft were operating outside primary science mission parameters. Post-facto scattered light analysis verifies the geometries at which these glints occurred and why they were not caught during ground testing or nominal mission operations. The limitations of standard baffle design at near-grazing angles are discussed, as well as the importance of including surface scatter properties in standard stray light analyses when determining solar keep-out efficiency. In particular, the scattered light analysis of these two instruments shows that standard "one bounce" assumptions in baffle design are not always enough to prevent scattered sunlight from reaching the instrument focal plane. Future builds, such as JUICE-UVS, will implement improved scattered and stray light modeling early in the design phase to enhance capabilities in extended mission science phases, as well as optimize solar keep out volume.

The Far Ultraviolet (FUV) detector on the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is subject to a variety of distortions due to its analog nature. Thermal variations of the detector and electronics stretch and shift the active area. Geometric distortions on a range of spatial scales warp the two-dimensional spectral image. Changes due to detector walk – the dependence of detected position on pulse height – add distortions that change as a function of time. The calcos calibration pipeline includes corrections for each of these effects in the calibrated spectra, but these are imperfect, and they do not help with the target acquisition process, which uses raw detector coordinates. We discuss these distortions and their effect on the data, our attempts to mitigate them, the current pipeline corrections and their success at removing the effects, and possible modifications to improve the data quality in the future.

We present the results of a preliminary aging study of new enhanced broadband reflectivity lithium fluoride mirror coatings under development at the thin films laboratory at GSFC. These coatings have demonstrated greater than 80% reflectivity from the Lyman ultraviolet (~1020 Å) to the optical, and have the potential to revolutionize far-ultraviolet instrument design and capabilities. This work is part of a concept study in preparation for the fight qualification of these new coatings in a working astronomical environment. We outline the goals for TRL advancement, and discuss the instrument capabilities enabled by these high reflectivity broadband coatings on potential future space missions. We also present the early design of the first space experiment to utilize these coatings, the proposed University of Colorado sounding rocket payload SISTINE, and show how these new coatings make the science goals of SISTINE attainable on a suborbital platform.

Borosilicate microcapillary arrays have been functionalized by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) of resistive and secondary emissive layers to produce robust microchannel plates (MCPs) with improved performance characteristics over traditional MCPs. These techniques produce MCP’s with enhanced stability and lifetime, low background rates, and low levels of adsorbed gas. Using ALD to functionalize the substrate decouples the two and provides the opportunity to explore many new materials. The borosilicate substrates have many advantages over traditional lead glass MCPs, including the ability to be fabricated in large areas (currently at 400 cm²).

The ICON Far Ultra Violet Imaging Spectrograph (ICON FUV) instrument includes one sealed tube microchannel plate (MCP) converter for each of two (135.6 nm and 157 nm wavelength) channels. These are each integrated with a CCD camera assembly to provide ICON FUV’s sensor systems. The ICON FUV sealed tube converters have a 27mm active area and include a double MCP stack with a cesium iodide (CsI) photocathode, a magnesium fluoride (MgF₂) input window, a ceramic and Kovar brazed mechanical structure and a phosphor output screen. Performance characteristics are measured for each detector throughout manufacturing and before shipping and include the collection of gain-voltage data, pulse height distributions, flat field images of the output window, background count rates and images, quantum efficiency curves and resolution characteristics. The design and testing of the ICON FUV sealed tube converters are described here.

The X-ray Timing and Polarization (XTP) is a mission concept for a future space borne X-ray observatory and is currently selected for early phase study. We present a new design of X-ray polarimeter based on the time projection gas chamber. The polarimeter, placed above the focal plane, has an additional rear window that allows hard X-rays to penetrate (a transmission of nearly 80% at 6 keV) through it and reach the detector on the focal plane. Such a design is to compensate the low detection efficiency of gas detectors, at a low cost of sensitivity, and can maximize the science return of multilayer hard X-ray telescopes without the risk of moving focal plane instruments. The sensitivity in terms of minimum detectable polarization, based on current instrument configuration, is expected to be 3% for a 1mCrab source given an observing time of 10⁵ s. We present preliminary test results, including photoelectron tracks and modulation curves, using a test chamber and polarized X-ray sources in the lab.

Solid-state photomultipliers (SSPM) are high gain photodetectors composed of Geiger photodiodes (GPD) operating above device breakdown voltage. In scintillation based radiation detection applications, SSPMs fabricated using silicon (SiPMs, MPPCs, etc) provide a compact, low cost alternative to photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), however, the high dark count rate due to its low band-gap (1.1eV) limits the signal-to-noise performance as the silicon SSPM is scaled to large areas. SSPMs fabricated in materials with a larger band-gap have the potential to surmount the performance limitations experienced by silicon. AlGaAs is a material that provides a bandgap from 1.55eV to 2.13 eV, depending on Al concentration. Using high Al concentration AlGaAs to engineer a wideband- gap (>2eV) SSPM is very desirable in terms of reducing dark noise, which promises better signal-to-noise performances when large detector areas is needed. This work describes the development of Geiger photodiodes (GPDs), the individual elements of a SSPM, fabricated in AlGaAs with 80% Al concentration. We present the design of the GPDs, the fabrication process, along with characterization data of fabricated GPD samples. To the best of our knowledge, we have demonstrated for the first time, a passively quenched Geiger photodiode in Al_0.8Ga_0.2As.

Reflective aluminum (Al) mirrors for astronomical telescopes are traditionally protected by a transmissive overcoat. The optical, mechanical and chemical properties of this overcoat material strongly affect the spectral reflective properties and durability of the mirror system. We are developing atomic layer deposited metal fluorides and assessing their applicability for future astronomical space missions in the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths. We are currently performing depositions on silicon wafers to serve as a basis for the metal-fluoride on Al depositions. In this paper we present reflectance, surface roughness, environmental storage and polarization sensitivity results of thin layers of AlF₃ on silicon. Atomic layer deposited coatings of AlF₃ grown at 100 and 200 °C yield good optical characteristics deduced from reflectance measurements from 90 – 800 nm and spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements from 200 – 800 nm, which are consistent with calculations from optical constants derived by our group and from the literature. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements demonstrate a 15% increase in surface roughness for a ~25 nm film with respect to a silicon reference. Temporary storage in a gN₂ box minimally affects the UV reflectance of ~30 nm of AlF₃ on Si. Overall, these coatings have proven to be versatile and optically stable in the early phases of development.

Photon detection is a central element of any high-energy astronomy instrumentation. One classical setup that has proven successful in many missions is the combination of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) with scintillators, converting incoming high-energy photons into visible light, which in turn is converted in an electrical impulse. Although being extremely sensitive and rapid, PMTs have the drawback of being bulky, fragile, and are requiring a high-voltage power supply of up to several thousand volts. Recent technological advances in the development of silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) make them a promising alternative to PMTs in essentially all their applications. We have started an R and D program to assess the possibility of using SiPMs for space-based applications in the domain of high-energy astronomy. We have setup a test bench using a vacuum vessel to reproduce a space-representative environment in our lab. We will present our test bench as well as first results of a characterization campaign of SiPM detectors from 3 different suppliers. We have planned to select after the characterization campaign one baseline detector for which we will design a dedicated front-end electronics and mechanical system. Furthermore, we plan to develop a specific low noise voltage power supply that ensures the stability of the SiPMs. Our ultimate goal is to qualify the system for a Technical Readiness Level of 5.

The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has developed a science camera suitable for sub-orbital missions for observations in the UV, EUV and soft X-ray. Six cameras were built and tested for the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP), a joint MSFC, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) and Institut D'Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS) sounding rocket mission. The CLASP camera design includes a frame-transfer e2v CCD57-10 512 × 512 detector, dual channel analog readout and an internally mounted cold block. At the flight CCD temperature of -20C, the CLASP cameras exceeded the low-noise performance requirements (≤ 25 e⁻ read noise and ≤ 10 e⁻ /sec/pixel dark current), in addition to maintaining a stable gain of ≈ 2.0 e⁻/DN. The e2v CCD57-10 detectors were coated with Lumogen-E to improve quantum efficiency (QE) at the Lyman- wavelength. A vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) monochromator and a NIST calibrated photodiode were employed to measure the QE of each camera. Three flight cameras and one engineering camera were tested in a high-vacuum chamber, which was configured to operate several tests intended to verify the QE, gain, read noise and dark current of the CCD. We present and discuss the QE measurements performed on the CLASP cameras. We also discuss the high-vacuum system outfitted for testing of UV, EUV and X-ray science cameras at MSFC.

The FIREBall-2 Instrument Model (FIREBallIMO) is a piece of software simulating the optical behaviour of the Multi-Object Two-Curved Schmidt Slit Spectograph of FIREBall-2 (Faint Intergalactic Redshifted Emission BALLoon), a balloon-borne telescope (40 km in alt.) designed to perform a direct detection of the faint Circum Galactic Medium (CGM) in emission around low-z galaxies. The spectrograph has been optimized to operate in a narrow UV band [195-225] nanometers, the so-called atmospheric sweet spot, where the sky background presents no emission lines and can be considered approximately at, a value of 500 continnum units, seen through an optical transmission of 50% at an atmospheric pressure of 3 millibars. This paper gives an overview of the software current modular architecture after a year of productive effort (in terms of parametric model space definition, associated data cubes generation and digital processing) starting from the instrument initial optical model designed under Zemax software to the final 2D-detected image. A special emphasis is put on the design of a cython-wrapped driver able to retrieve dense ray-sampled PSFs out of the Zemax box efficiently. The optical mappings and distortions from the sky to the spectrograph's entrance slit plane and from the sky to the detection plane are presented, as well as some end-to-end simulations leading to Signal-to-Noise Ratio estimates computed on artificial point-like or extended test sources.