A space-borne plasma analyser for three-dimensional measurements of the velocity distribution
Coates, A. J.; Winningham, J. D.; Johnstone, A. D.; Kellock, S. J.; Smith, M. F.; Booker, T.
United Kingdom, United States
Abstract
A new type of plasma analyzer, capable of covering the three-dimensional energy distribution of charged particles from a spinning spacecraft, has been built for the AMPTE and GIOTTO spacecraft. The novel features are the use of 260 deg of deflection in a spherical plate electrostatic analyzer to obtain energy discrimination simultaneously with dispersion in angle and the use of a microchannel plate with position-sensitive readout to obtain the angular distribution. The sensor achieves a field of view greater than 140 deg; a well-defined and nearly-ideal shape for the acceptance volume in velocity space and a relatively large geometric factor.