The Development of a Low-Voltage, Ultra-Compact Plasma Spectrometer

Amy Keesee ¹ Earl Scime ² Derek Thompson ² Cuyler Beatty ² Greg Wagner ³ Steve Ellison ³ Vernon Cottles ³ Matt Dugas ³

¹Physics & Astronomy and Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA
²Physics & Astronomy, West Virginia University, Morganown, West Virginia, USA
³ARC Nano, Advanced Research Corporation, White Bear Lake, Minnesota, USA

Instrumentation is needed to support the increased demand for low-cost, small satellites to support research and space weather monitoring. Such instrumentation is also needed for constellation missions envisioned by space agencies, such as in the NASA Heliophysics Roadmap. We are developing a low-voltage, ultra-compact plasma spectrometer that is designed to meet these requirements. The collimator and electrostatic analyzer elements are etched into a single silicon wafer to enable manufacturability of large quantities. The instrument is capable of measuring ions or electrons at a discrete set of energies without the requirement to sweep voltages. The energy range measured will depend upon the detector used; for example, solid state detectors can be used for energies greater than ~ 1 keV. We are developing a concept micro-faraday cup for lower energies. We will present the instrument design, test results of the collimator-analyzer layer, as well as initial test results of the micro-faraday cup.

Work supported by NASA award Nos. NNX14AJ36G and 80NSSC19K0490 and Department of Energy Award Nos. DE-SC0013841, DE-SC0017873, and DE-SC0019471