Design of Lobster-Eye Focusing System for Dark Matter Detection

Abstract

Dark matter and dark energy are recognized as “Two dark clouds shrouded in the clear sky of physics in the twenty-first century.” Experimental and theoretical exploration of dark matter and dark energy will greatly deepen people’s understanding of the microcosm and the macrocosm and is likely to bring about a revolutionary breakthrough in the basic theory of physics. X-ray dark matter detection has attracted more and more attention in the field of dark matter searching area. This paper focuses on the detection of sterile neutrino dark matter particles in the keV band and designs the detection scheme for dark matter particles. Based on the X-ray total reflection theory, the imaging principles of lobster-eye optics are discussed, and the influence of the structure factor on the focusing performance is also investigated. The models of the lobster-eye optics that are designed for different detection modes have been setup by a simulation tool, and the imaging simulations are carried out. The results show that the focusing performance of the lobster-eye optics improves prominently when the optics structure is designed for different energy spectrum distribution. Under the condition of existing processing technology, a lobster-eye optics experimental sample has been made, and the result of the experiment based on this device shows a clear cross pattern and peak intensity, and this verifies the focusing properties of lobster-eye optics.