Thin aluminum filters for use on the Apollo Telescope Mount XUV spectrographs

Thin, unbacked, aluminum film filters were used on two extreme ultraviolet (XUV) instruments flown on the Apollo Telescope Mount of Skylab by the Naval Research Laboratory to transmit the XUV radiation while blocking the longer wavelength radiation that would saturate the detector. The requirements placed on these filters - large size, resistance to degradation by high acoustic and vibration fields, and low pinhole transmittances - were far more severe than those placed on any filters previously flown. Special techniques were developed for vacuum evaporation of the aluminum, removal of the films from the substrates, supporting the films and mounting them to obtain finished filters, and storing them so that no degradation took place. A description of these techniques will be given.