Performance prediction of 1d lobster eye x-ray optics for astronomical observations

Lobster eye optics enables wide-field x-ray telescope design that trades angular resolution for large field of view. This characteristic makes Lobster eye optic particularly suitable for time-domain and multi-messenger astrophysics applications. We present the development of a one-dimensional Lobster eye optic system at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) for wide-field x-ray monitoring missions. The proposed instrument incorporates over one thousand small flat reflecting surfaces arranged in cylindrical geometry to achieve approximately 20-degree field of view. Critical performance parameters include individual reflector geometry, surface flatness, profile errors, coating-induced stress, and alignment precision. We developed a wavelength-dependent ray-tracing algorithm that directly incorporates metrology and finite element method (FEM) data to quantify error contributions. The ray-trace simulations generate point spread function (PSF) characteristics and effective area calculations across the operating energy range ( 30 keV). We analyze how each error source degrades both the imaging performance and effective area of the system. This paper presents the 1D Lobster eye optic design configuration and comprehensive ray-trace analysis results demonstrating the error from the prescription and due to mirror and alignment imperfections. The modeling approach enables systematic optimization of Lobster eye optic performance for high-energy transient event monitoring applications.