New ion energy-mass spectrometer ULTIMAN (UlTImate Mass ANalyzer) for space plasmas

TL;DR

The paper introduces ULTIMAN, a new ion energy-mass spectrometer designed for space plasma studies, offering wide energy range, hemispheric view, and improved resolution for detailed ion velocity distribution measurements.

Contribution

It presents a novel energy-mass analyzer with electrostatic scanning and toroidal analysis, enhancing plasma measurement capabilities and versatility for space research.

Findings

Provides detailed ion velocity distribution data

Offers wide energy range and hemispheric field of view

Can be adapted for electron measurements

Abstract

Measurements of Ion velocity distributions are one of basic goals of space plasma studies. There is variety of ion and electron spectrometers (e.g. Wuest et al, 2007, Young et al., 2007, Zurbuchen and Gershman, 2016, Vaisberg et al, 2016). The most frequently used ion spectrometer is top-hat analyzer (Carlson et al., 1983) consisting of toroidal electrostatic analyzer, electrostatic scanner and time-of-flight section with thin foil as start element and ion pre-acceleration. We describe new energy-mass analyzer with electrostatic scanner providing hemispheric field-of view with small aberration, toroidal electrostatic analyzer, time-of-flight synchronizer with simple gate. It provides desirable hemisphere scanning, wide energy range and reasonable mass resolution. It can provide detailed measurements of the ion velocity distribution of ion species without significant gaps to obtain reliable moments of plasma flow. This analyzer without TOF ability can be used for measurements of electron component. With simple electro-optics elements this analyzer can be easily modified to many goals of plasma investigations.