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Studies of the electrical charging of the tethered electron accelerator mother‐daughter pocket Maimik
Author(s) -
Maehlum B. N.,
Troim J.,
Maynard N. C.,
Denig W. F.,
Friedrich M.,
Torkar K. M.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl015i007p00725
Subject(s) - payload (computing) , beam (structure) , electron , cathode ray , physics , atomic physics , particle accelerator , nuclear physics , optics , computer network , network packet , computer science
The MAIMIK experiment was designed to study the charging of an electron‐beam emitting payload using a tethered mother‐daughter payload configuration. The particle accelerator on the daughter emitted short pulses of 8 keV energy electrons with a beam current which was varied in 6 steps from 20 to 800 mA. During the highest beam currents the accelerator payload was charged to potentials more than 50 per cent greater than the beam energy. It is speculated that a combination of a low background plasma density and a small payload may account for the apparently anomalous result.