TECHNOLOGY ISSUES FOR LOW ENERGY NEUTRAL SPECTROMETER

CONVERSION SURFACE:

• Previous Conversion Surface Candidates:
  • e.g.: W with Cs requires hot re-conditioning
• Goal: Stable Conversion Surface for long term mission with reliable calibration and no re-conditioning
• Candidates: BaZrO ₃ (see related figures), diamond, Al N
• Development Needed:
  • Calibration over wide energy range
    • low E for H: approx. 10 eV in Inner Heliosphere
    • moderate E for H: 30 - 50 eV on ISP
  • Long term stability tests (both applications)
  • Wide range of species, including metastable ions

END-TO-END TEST OF SENSOR:

• Electrostatic Lens is ready for flight
• Cluster/FAST/Equator-S TOF spectrometer that is flight proven
• Development Needed:
  • Adaptation to positive acceleration HV
  • Combined test of the sensor

RELATED FIGURE:

SURFACE ROUGHNESS OF LASER DEPOSITED BAZRO₃ ON POLISHED W

Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) analysis of a 5 mm square of polished tungsten with pulse laser deposited barium zirconate

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