Würzburg 2018 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 30: Gammaastronomie I

T 30.7: Talk

Tuesday, March 20, 2018, 18:05–18:20, Philo-HS7

Development of novel back-coated, ultra-thin glass mirrors for Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes — •Juliane van Scherpenberg, Razmik Mirzoyan, and Masahiro Teshima for the MAGIC collaboration — Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München

Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) have no protective domes and are constantly exposed to varying weather conditions at desert and/or high mountain conditions. The reflective surface of currently used mirrors in IACTs generally are made of about 100 nm thin layers of aluminum covered by a protective quartz layer. Constant exposure to wind, which can carry dust particles, to rain and large temperature variations damages these layers and can lead to a noticeable decrease in reflectivity over the timespan of a few years. Furthermore, it is practically impossible to clean the mirrors from dirt and dust without damaging their surface which further reduces their reflectivity. I will present the state of development of new back-coated, ultra-thin glass mirrors. They should be very resistant to external influences and easy to clean. We anticipate that such mirrors will have a constant reflectivity over a long time period that is comparable to the lifetime of IACTs themselves.