Energetic particle imaging: The evolution of techniques in imaging high‐energy neutral atom emissions

Abstract

AbstractEnergetic 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.