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Energetic particle imaging: The evolution of techniques in imaging high‐energy neutral atom emissions
Author(s) -
Mitchell D. G.,
Brandt P. C.,
Westlake J. H.,
Jaskulek S. E.,
Andrews G. B.,
Nelson K. S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1002/2016ja022586
Subject(s) - energetic neutral atom , angular resolution (graph drawing) , physics , range (aeronautics) , energy (signal processing) , neutral particle , atomic physics , charged particle , ion , optics , aerospace engineering , mathematics , combinatorics , quantum mechanics , engineering
Energetic neutral atom imaging instruments have been flown on a variety of space missions to satisfy a variety of science requirements. In this paper we discuss the most recent developments that lead to improvements in energy range, angular resolution, and background rejection for the high‐energy range, as represented in the past by the Cassini magnetosphere imaging instrument Ion and Neutral Camera, the Imager for Magnetopause‐to‐Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) mission High‐Energy Neutral Atom instrument, and to some degree the IMAGE mission Medium‐Energy Neutral Atom instrument. The new approaches discussed here rely on the use of ultrathin foils without UV filters and on very high speed coincidence logic to reduce accidentals from intense background sources. We present laboratory results demonstrating an electrostatic design that meets the coincidence timing requirements, position, and scattering performance consistent with angular resolution (full width at half maximum) of ~2° for hydrogen above 10 keV and a hydrogen energy threshold ≤1 keV.