Calorimetric Wire Detector for Measurement of Atomic Hydrogen Beams

TL;DR

This paper introduces a calorimetric wire detector capable of minimally invasive measurements of atomic hydrogen beams, accurately determining beam shape and intensity distribution through heat measurement of recombination events.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel calorimetric detector design for atomic hydrogen beams that enables precise, minimally disruptive measurements of beam shape and intensity.

Findings

The detector accurately measures the angular distribution of hydrogen beams.

The beam shape can be determined with 5% or better precision.

Data aligns well with the analytic model of the thermal hydrogen atom source.

Abstract

A calorimetric detector for minimally disruptive measurements of atomic hydrogen beams is described. The calorimeter measures heat released by the recombination of hydrogen atoms into molecules on a thin wire. As a demonstration, the angular distribution of a beam with a peak intensity of $\approx 10^{16} \,{\rm{atoms}}/{(\rm{cm}^2 \rm{s})}$ is measured by translating the wire across the beam. The data agree well with an analytic model of the beam from the thermal hydrogen atom source. Using the beam shape model, the relative intensity of the beam can be determined to 5% precision or better at any angle.