Detection Of Neutral Atoms Research Articles

Energetic Neutral Atom Imaging of the Earth’s Ring Current and Some Results from the Chinese Double Star Program

The ring current region in the Earth’s magnetosphere contains energetic charged particles, which are injected from the magnetotail, get trapped in the inner magnetosphere, and finally drift around the Earth. The current, essentially carried by ions, is caused by the differences between the drift of the positively charged ions and that of negatively charged electrons. The charge exchange that occurs between ring current ions and geocoronal atoms determines the distribution and evolution of the ring current and lays the basis for remote detection techniques. By measuring the energetic neutral atoms produced by the charge-exchange process, the ring current can be remotely detected via energetic neutral atom imaging. The Chinese Double Star Program operated the NeUtral Atom Detector Unit (NUADU) onboard one of its two satellites for more than four years. A variety of studies were conducted using multiple methods applied to observations, such as intuitive image inspection, forward modeling, and inversion. Energetic neutral atom imaging was established as a promising technique for future imaging projects.

Close up observation and inversion of low-altitude ENA emissions during a substorm event

During a series of substorm events on November 12 2004, the Neutral Atom Detector Unit (NUADU) flying onboard the TC-2 spacecraft observed, close to perigee, bright low-altitude Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) emissions from both north and south poles. Through utilizing high temporal and spatial resolution data inversion techniques we present here a global view the associated processes of energetic ion deposition and injection at the uniquely high temporal resolution of a few minutes. It is demonstrated that the ENA emissions observed came mainly from the, low-altitude, high magnetic latitude polar region. Since precipitating ions follow magnetic field lines and have more chance to produce ENA emissions through charge exchange there. Therefore, the employment of a low-orbit satellite to record at high temporal and spatial resolution ENA image data is inferred to be the best way to monitor those dynamic ring current variations that occur during geomagnetic activity.

Single-ion adsorption and switching in carbon nanotubes

Single-ion detection has, for many years, been the domain of large devices such as the Geiger counter, and studies on interactions of ionized gasses with materials have been limited to large systems. To date, there have been no reports on single gaseous ion interaction with microelectronic devices, and single neutral atom detection techniques have shown only small, barely detectable responses. Here we report the observation of single gaseous ion adsorption on individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which, because of the severely restricted one-dimensional current path, experience discrete, quantized resistance increases of over two orders of magnitude. Only positive ions cause changes, by the mechanism of ion potential-induced carrier depletion, which is supported by density functional and Landauer transport theory. Our observations reveal a new single-ion/CNT heterostructure with novel electronic properties, and demonstrate that as electronics are ultimately scaled towards the one-dimensional limit, atomic-scale effects become increasingly important.

SIMULATING THE COMPTON-GETTING EFFECT FOR HYDROGEN FLUX MEASUREMENTS: IMPLICATIONS FORIBEX-HiAND -LoOBSERVATIONS

The Interstellar Boundary EXplorer (IBEX), launched in 2008 October, has improved our understanding of the solar wind-local interstellar medium interaction through its detection of neutral atoms, particularly that of hydrogen (H). IBEX is able to create full maps of the sky in six-month intervals as the Earth orbits the Sun, detecting H with energies between ∼0.01 and 6 keV. Due to the relative motion of IBEX to the solar inertial frame, measurements made in the spacecraft frame introduce a Compton-Getting (CG) effect, complicating measurements at the lowest energies. In this paper we provide results from a numerical simulation that calculates fluxes of H atoms at 1 AU in the inertial and spacecraft frames (both ram and anti-ram), at energies relevant to IBEX-Hi and -Lo. We show theory behind the numerical simulations, applying a simple frame transformation to derived flux equations that provides a straightforward way to simulate fluxes in the spacecraft frame. We then show results of H energetic neutral atom fluxes simulated at IBEX-Hi energy passbands 2-6 in all frames, comparing with IBEX-Hi data along selected directions, and also show results simulated at energies relevant to IBEX-Lo. Although simulations at IBEX-Hi energies agree reasonably well with the CG correctionmore » method used for IBEX-Hi data, we demonstrate the importance of properly modeling low energy H fluxes due to inherent complexities involved with measurements made in moving frames, as well as dynamic radiation pressure effects close to the Sun.« less

A Fiber Optic Catalytic Sensor for Neutral Atom Measurements in Oxygen Plasma

The presented sensor for neutral oxygen atom measurement in oxygen plasma is a catalytic probe which uses fiber optics and infrared detection system to measure the gray body radiation of the catalyst. The density of neutral atoms can be determined from the temperature curve of the probe, because the catalyst is heated predominantly by the dissipation of energy caused by the heterogeneous surface recombination of neutral atoms. The advantages of this sensor are that it is simple, reliable, easy to use, noninvasive, quantitative and can be used in plasma discharge regions. By using different catalyst materials the sensor can also be applied for detection of neutral atoms in other plasmas. Sensor design, operation, example measurements and new measurement procedure for systematic characterization are presented.

Development of an improved field ionization detector incorporating a secondary electron stage

Field ionization from sharp tips is attracting increased attention for use in detectors for neutral atomic/molecular species. However, the direct detection of the ionized species typically results in low sensitivities due to the small acceptance angle of the receiving ion-sensitive measurement device (usually a channel electron multiplier) and can result in sputtering damage due to the relatively high mass and energy of the incident ion species. Here we present a design for a field-ionization-based neutral atom detector incorporating a simple secondary electron generating stage. The use of such a stage decouples the field-ionized species from the detected electron signal, thus eliminating any sputtering damage to the channel electron multiplier. The detector armature discussed is shown to exhibit a linear response to neutral gas pressure and a sensitivity that is improved by more than two orders of magnitude over a previous field ionization detector design.

Note: Continuous synthesis of uniform vertical graphene on cylindrical surfaces

This note describes a new reactor design for continuous synthesis of vertically oriented graphene (VG) sheets on cylindrical wire substrates using an atmospheric plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system. Through combining a U-shaped reactor design with "dynamic mode" synthesis featuring simultaneous rotational and axial movements of the metallic wire substrate, the new setup can enable continuous synthesis of VG sheets on the wire surface with remarkable uniformity in both circumferential and axial directions. In contrast, synthesis of VG at "static mode" with a fixed substrate can only lead to non-uniform growth of VG sheets on the wire surface. Potential applications of the resulting uniform-VG-coated metallic wire could include field emitters, field-ionization-based neutral atom detectors, and indoor corona discharges.

A nanotechnology application for low energy neutral atom detection with high angular resolution for the BepiColombo mission to Mercury

Thanks to the great progress of micro and nanofabrication techniques, only in recent years it has been possible to propose a space flying instrument able of remote-sensing the surface released neutral particles with a direct technique. This instrument, which will be installed in the BepiColombo/MPO spacecraft to Mercury, is the neutral sensor ELENA (Emitted Low-Energy Neutral Atoms), a time-of-flight (TOF) detector, based on the state-of-the art of ultra-sonic oscillating shutters, and Micro-Channel Plate (MCP) detection. The shuttering system digitizes space and time when tagging the incoming particles without affecting their trajectory and energy. The ELENA shuttering element consists of two self-standing silicon nitride (Si3N4) membranes, one facing the other, patterned with arrays of 200nm wide nanoslits, organized on a square lattice with 4μm pitch over a 3×3mm2 area whereas in the final version it will perform a pitch of 1.4μm, on a 10×10mm2 area. A capacitive control system is implemented to assure the alignment of the two membranes. The characterization of the shuttering capability has been obtained with a He+ beam at 1keV. The same fabrication process has been also used to realize a large area mesh filters, in order to reflect unwanted IR radiation to minimize the instrument heat load.

Comparisons between ion distributions retrieved from ENA images of the ring current and contemporaneous, multipoint ion measurements recorded in situ during the major magnetic storm of 15 May 2005

The Neutral Atom Detector Unit (NUADU) aboard the TC‐2 spacecraft recorded energetic neutral atom (ENA) image data for >3 h during part of the main and recovery phases of a major magnetic storm on 15 May 2005. A custom designed, constrained linear inversion method was applied to retrieve ring current ion distributions in the ENA records out to L = 6.6. Comparisons were then made between the ion fluxes retrieved from these ENA data (energy ranges 50–81 keV and 81–158 keV) and complementary, contemporaneous particle fluxes measured in situ by Synchronous Orbit Particle Analyzer (SOPA) instruments aboard a series of geosynchronous satellites that were launched to encircle the equatorial plane at L ∼ 6.6 by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The ENA data revealed the development of two emission peaks during the main phase of the storm which corresponded to the arrival from the magnetotail of a pair of particle injections. These injections reached, in each case, maximum value before the corresponding AL index amplitude peak was attained. The main phase of the storm concluded (Dst ≈ −256 nT) in the aftermath of this event pair, and the ring current ion fluxes thereafter gradually decayed over several hours (the storm recovery phase). This is the first time that the linear inversion method developed for NUADU data has been globally validated using multipoint in situ measurements made at different magnetic local times. It was found that the higher the derived flux values were on the duskside/nightside, the closer they were to the in situ measurements. The retrieved fluxes obtained on the duskside/nightside tended, however, to be still somewhat underestimated since the ENA measurements concerned were made around the outer edge of the ring current at an altitude where the magnetic field in the inner magnetosphere deviates from that dipole configuration assumed in the inversion procedure to pertain there. The two methods utilized to study ions during a large magnetic storm are complementary in that the retrieved ion fluxes provide high time resolution information concerning the changing, large‐scale structure of ring current events, whereas in situ flux sampling presents “measurement truth” at particular locations within individual ring currents.

Field Ionization of Cold Atoms near the Wall of a Single Carbon Nanotube

We observe the capture and field ionization of individual atoms near the side wall of a single suspended nanotube. Extremely large cross sections for ionization from an atomic beam are observed at modest voltages due to the nanotube's small radius and extended length. The effects of the field strength on both the atomic capture and the ionization process are clearly distinguished in the data, as are prompt and delayed ionizations related to the locations at which they occur. Efficient and sensitive neutral atom detectors can be based on the nanotube capture and wall ionization processes.

A comparison of Neutral Atom Detector Unit neutral atom image inversion with a comprehensive ring current model

We present energetic neutral atom (ENA) images in the energy range 45 to 50 keV for H and 92 to 138 keV for O measured by the Neutral Atom Detector Unit (NUADU) onboard Double Star TC‐2 during a geomagnetic storm on 8 May 2005. We compare the ion fluxes deduced from inversion of the NUADU image with those calculated using the Comprehensive Ring Current Model (CRCM). This comparison shows that the two approaches are consistent when used to derive the configuration of the corresponding global ion distribution and the peak ion fluxes. The deduced peak ion flux is located in the premidnight sector at 1540 UT, while the deduced ion peak flux is located in the midnight sector at 1610 UT. There are strong ion fluxes in the region between L = 2 and L = 4 which form a closed loop configuration. The ion peak flux is about 2.2 × 106/cm2/sr/keV/s. The deduced ion distribution agrees well with the NUADU measurement. The agreement between the inverted ion distributions and the CRCM results give us confidence in applying our ENA imaging and modeling techniques to the study of the evolution of the inner magnetosphere plasma distribution and the global dynamics of the ring current during magnetic storms.

A simple method for creating nanotube field emitters from a surfactant dispersion

A new method has been developed for depositing aligned ropes of single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) such that a significant number of ropes protrude normally from the surface. The resulting surface has excellent field emission characteristics owing to the high local fields generated at the tips of the protruding nanotubes. Further development of the technique may lead to the construction of a reasonably homogeneous surface bristling with nanotube ropes, which could allow spatially resolved neutral atom detection via field ionization.

Plasma sheet stretching accompanied by field aligned energetic ion fluxes observed by the NUADU instrument aboard TC-2

The NUADU (NeUtral Atom Detector Unit) instrument aboard TC-2 recorded 4л solid angle images of charged particles (E >180 keV) spiraling around the magnetic field lines in the near-Earth plasma sheet (at ∼ −7 R E, equatorial dawn-to-night side) during a geomagnetic storm (Dst =−219 nT) on August 24, 2005. Energetic ion beam events characterized by symmetrical, ring-like, solid angle distributions around ambient magnetic field lines were observed during a 34-minute traversal of the plasma sheet by the TC-2 spacecraft. Also, observations during these multiple crossings of the plasma sheet were monitored by the magnetometer experiment (FGM) aboard the same spacecraft. During each crossing, a whistler-mode chorus enhancement was observed in the anisotropic area by the TC-2 low frequency electromagnetic wave detector (LFEW/TC-2) at a frequency just above that of the local lower hybrid wave. A comparison of the ion pitch angle distribution (PAD) map with the ambient magnetic field shows that an enhancement in the field aligned energetic ion flux was accompanied by tailward stretching of the magnetic field lines in the plasma sheet. In contrast, the perpendicular ion-flux enhancement was accompanied by a signature indicating the corresponding shrinkage of the magnetic field lines in the plasma sheet. Since both parallel ion-flux and perpendicular ion-flux enhancements occurred intermittently, the data were interpreted to imply a dynamical, oscillatory process of the magnetic field line (stretching and shrinking) in the near-Earth plasma sheet, which might have acted to help establish an interaction region in this area which would support continuous aurora-substorm triggering during the ongoing magnetic storm. The whistler-mode chorus may have been produced due to ion gyro-resonance during particle pitch angle diffusion after the plasma sheet compression.

Low energy neutral atom imaging on the Moon with the SARA instrument aboard Chandrayaan-1 mission

This paper reports on the Sub-keV Atom Reflecting Analyzer (SARA) experiment that will be flown on the first Indian lunar mission Chandrayaan-1. The SARA is a low energy neutral atom (LENA) imaging mass spectrometer, which will perform remote sensing of the lunar surface via detection of neutral atoms in the energy range from 10 eV to 3 keV from a 100km polar orbit. In this report we present the basic design of the SARA experiment and discuss various scientific issues that will be addressed. The SARA instrument consists of three major subsystems: a LENA sensor (CENA), a solar wind monitor (SWIM), and a digital processing unit (DPU). SARA will be used to image the solar wind-surface interaction to study primarily the surface composition and surface magnetic anomalies and associated mini-magnetospheres. Studies of lunar exosphere sources and space weathering on the Moon will also be attempted. SARA is the first LENA imaging mass spectrometer of its kind to be flown on a space mission. A replica of SARA is planned to fly to Mercury onboard the BepiColombo mission.

Electron pitch angle variations recorded at the high magnetic latitude boundary layer by the NUADU instrument on the TC-2 spacecraft

Abstract. The NUADU (NeUtral Atom Detector Unit) experiment aboard TC-2 recorded, with high temporal and spatial resolution, 4π solid angle images of electrons (~50-125 keV) spiraling around geomagnetic field lines at high northern magnetic latitudes (L>10), during its in-orbit commissioning phase (September 2004). The ambient magnetic field, as well as electrons in other energy ranges, were simultaneously measured by the TC-2 magnetometer (FGM), the plasma electron and current experiment (PEACE), the low energy ion detector (LEID) and the high energy electron detector (HEED). The NUADU data showed that up-flowing electron beams could form "ring-like" and "dumbbell-type" pitch angle distributions (PADs) in the region sampled. Changes in these pitch angle distributions due to transient magnetic variations are suggested to have been associated with electron acceleration along the geomagnetic field lines. A nested magnetic bottle configuration that formed due to the propagation towards the Earth of a magnetic pulse, is proposed to have been associated with this process.

The NUADU experiment on TC-2 and the first Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) images recorded by this instrument

Abstract. The Earth’s ring current and how it responds to varying interplanetary conditions is described and an account provided of the production of Energetic Neutral Atoms (ENAs) in the geo-corona. Also, the potential to remotely monitor, on a global scale, the temporal and spatial evolution of magnetospheric plasma populations through analysing ENA images recorded during magnetic storms/substorms is indicated. A technical account of the Energetic NeUtral Atom Detector Unit NUADU aboard China’s TC-2 mission (measurement range 45–>158 keV) follows, together with an account of the scientific objectives of NUADU, both in stand-alone mode and in the context of multi-point imaging. Low altitude ENA emissions recorded by NUADU during south polar passages of TC-2 at the time of a moderate magnetic storm in September 2004, as well as bright ring current emissions recorded in November 2004 during a major geomagnetic storm, are presented and discussed in the context of various, accompanying, terrestrial disturbances. Also, ENA observations of the November 2004 ring current imaged simultaneously by TC-2/NUADU and by IMAGE/ HENA (viewing, respectively, from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres), are compared.

Neutral atom imaging at Mercury

The feasibility of neutral atom detection and imaging in the Hermean environment is discussed in this study. In particular, we consider those energetic neutral atoms (ENA) whose emission is directly related to solar wind entrance into Mercury's magnetosphere. In fact, this environment is characterised by a weak magnetic field; thus, cusp regions are extremely large if compared to the Earth's ones, and intense proton fluxes are expected there. Our study includes a model of H + distribution in space, energy and pitch angle, simulated by means of a single-particle, Monte-Carlo simulation. Among processes that could generate neutral atom emission, we focus our attention on charge-exchange and ion sputtering, which, in principle, are able to produce directional ENA fluxes. Simulated neutral atom images are investigated in the frame of the neutral particle analyser-ion spectrometer (NPA-IS) SERENA experiment, proposed to fly on board the ESA mission BepiColombo/MPO. The ELENA (emitted low-energy neutral atoms) unit, which is part of this experiment, will be able to detect such fluxes; instrumental details and predicted count rates are given.

Detection and Quantized Conductance of Neutral Atoms Near a Charged Carbon Nanotube

We describe a novel single atom detector that uses the high electric field surrounding a charged single-walled carbon nanotube to attract and subsequently field-ionize neutral atoms. A theoretical study of the field-ionization tunneling rates for atomic trajectories in the attractive potential near a nanowire shows that a broadly applicable, high spatial resolution, low-power, neutral-atom detector with nearly 100% efficiency is realizable with present-day technology. Calculations also show that the system can provide the first opportunity to study quantized conductance phenomena when detecting cold neutral atoms with mean velocities less than 15 m/s.

An overview of the scientific objectives and technical configuration of the NeUtral Atom Detector Unit (NUADU) for the Chinese Double Star Mission

The scientific objectives of an advanced NeUtral Atom Detector Unit (NUADU) designed for the Chinese Double Star Polar Mission, which is scheduled for launch in July 2004, are described. The potential during this mission to realize, hitherto unprecedented, integrated studies of global dynamic magnetospheric processes through combining with NUADU data contemporaneous measurements made aboard the CLUSTER II, IMAGE and TWINS spacecraft is also discussed and a short technical account of NUADU provided.

The energetic NeUtral Atom Detector Unit (NUADU) for China's Double Star Mission and its calibration

An account is provided of an advanced Energetic NeUtral Atom Detector Unit (NUADU) designed for China's Double Star Mission. Special emphasis is given to describing the detector head of the instrument and its calibration.