Title :
Towards the miniaturization of a space-borne electrostatic energy analyzer: the miniature enhanced geometry electrostatic analyzer (MEGEA)
Author :
Amerl, Peter V. ; Yau, Andrew W.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Phys. & Astron., Calgary Univ., Alta., Canada
Abstract :
The Miniature Enhanced Geometry Electrostatic Analyzer (MEGEA) is a spiral 270° Electrostatic Analyzer (EA). Adopting the spiral shape results in an instrument that is a factor of 2.7 smaller by volume than a conventional cylindrical EA with a comparable input cross section and accompanied by a 10% improvement in the energy resolution. The reduction in size is a first step to miniaturizing such instruments for in-situ measurements of space plasma properties. Presented are results from computer simulations of MEGEA and a conventional electrostatic analyzer and some comparisons between these two types of instruments.
Keywords :
atmospheric measuring apparatus; magnetosphere; plasma properties; remote sensing; computer simulations; energy resolution; input cross section; miniature enhanced geometry electrostatic analyzer; miniaturization; size reduction; space plasma properties; space-borne electrostatic energy analyzer; spiral shape; Electrostatic analysis; Electrostatic measurements; Energy resolution; Extraterrestrial measurements; Geometry; Instruments; Plasma measurements; Shape; Size measurement; Spirals;
Conference_Titel :
MEMS, NANO and Smart Systems, 2005. Proceedings. 2005 International Conference on
Print_ISBN :
0-7695-2398-6
DOI :
10.1109/ICMENS.2005.128
