Session
Swifty Session 1
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
The Compact Ion Mass Spectrometer (CIMS) is an ultra-low resource ion mass spectrometer being designed to make observations of low-energy space plasmas such as that in planetary ionospheres. The CIMS utilizes a laminated collimator to define the field-of-view, a laminated electrostatic analyzer to selectively filter ions based on energy-per-charge (E/qM/q), and a microchannel plate with a position sensitive cross-delay anode assembly (XDL/MCP) to detect the location of the ions on the detector plane. This ion mass spectrometer is a simple, compact, and robust instrument ideal for obtaining low-energy (0.1 eV to 1000 eV) ion composition measurements of terrestrial and planetary ionospheres. The combination of the laminated analyzer design, which creates a ribbon-like signal beam, and large area (XDL/MCP) imaging anode allows for a mass resolution (M/ΔM) of approximately sixteen, which is comparable to state-of-the-art ion mass spectrometers. The laminated ESA design incorporates a large number of independent analyzer elements in a grid configuration which allows for the geometric factor, i.e. instrument sensitivity, to be scaled as a function of the total number of elements. This scalability provides for custom CIMS instruments each specifically tailored for a space plasma environment. The concept and operation are intrinsically simple and enable ultrafast (~50 kHz) measurement of plasma ion composition to provide an improved understanding of the physical processes that drive complex ion dynamics in planetary ionospheres. The CIMS’s low-resource constraints make it a viable candidate for implementation in missions requiring multi-point observations using satellite constellations, as a primary payload on a CubeSat platform, or as a science payload on a resource constrained spacecraft destined for planetary environments. We outline the design, simulated instrument response, and initial laboratory results of the CIMS prototype. Additionally, we then use the results from initial calibration tests and our refined electro-optic model to simulate the instrument response in the terrestrial ionosphere and in the vicinity of various planetary bodies in the local solar system.
SSC23-S1-04 Presentation
An Ultra-Compact Ion Mass Spectrometer for Observations of Planetary Ionospheres
Utah State University, Logan, UT
The Compact Ion Mass Spectrometer (CIMS) is an ultra-low resource ion mass spectrometer being designed to make observations of low-energy space plasmas such as that in planetary ionospheres. The CIMS utilizes a laminated collimator to define the field-of-view, a laminated electrostatic analyzer to selectively filter ions based on energy-per-charge (E/qM/q), and a microchannel plate with a position sensitive cross-delay anode assembly (XDL/MCP) to detect the location of the ions on the detector plane. This ion mass spectrometer is a simple, compact, and robust instrument ideal for obtaining low-energy (0.1 eV to 1000 eV) ion composition measurements of terrestrial and planetary ionospheres. The combination of the laminated analyzer design, which creates a ribbon-like signal beam, and large area (XDL/MCP) imaging anode allows for a mass resolution (M/ΔM) of approximately sixteen, which is comparable to state-of-the-art ion mass spectrometers. The laminated ESA design incorporates a large number of independent analyzer elements in a grid configuration which allows for the geometric factor, i.e. instrument sensitivity, to be scaled as a function of the total number of elements. This scalability provides for custom CIMS instruments each specifically tailored for a space plasma environment. The concept and operation are intrinsically simple and enable ultrafast (~50 kHz) measurement of plasma ion composition to provide an improved understanding of the physical processes that drive complex ion dynamics in planetary ionospheres. The CIMS’s low-resource constraints make it a viable candidate for implementation in missions requiring multi-point observations using satellite constellations, as a primary payload on a CubeSat platform, or as a science payload on a resource constrained spacecraft destined for planetary environments. We outline the design, simulated instrument response, and initial laboratory results of the CIMS prototype. Additionally, we then use the results from initial calibration tests and our refined electro-optic model to simulate the instrument response in the terrestrial ionosphere and in the vicinity of various planetary bodies in the local solar system.
