Development of Top-Hat Electrostatic Analyzers for Cube Satellites

Abstract

A top-hat electrostatic analyzer (THEA) well-developed charged particle analyzers for small satellites will be adopted to cube satellites which are made out of multiple 10x10x10 cm^3 cubic unit Data from a single satellite can only be collected at single point at one time However to understand any events in the space thoroughly it is essential to collect data at different locations in the space simultaneously to capture the whole picture In other words measurements from multiple satellites are required Because of the much lower cost of building cube satellites many cube satellites carrying THEAs can be launched and measure distribution functions of charged particles in different locations in space at the same time It enables us to have a better understanding of distribution functions of charged particles in the whole space An zeroth-order approximated using an ideal THEA consisting of two concentric spheres shows that a THEA for measuring electrons with energy up to 22 2 keV can be fit in a cube satellite Different voltages will be given to two shells so that the trajectories of electrons entering the analyzer will be bent by the corresponding electric fields Only electrons with the radii of their circular motions that match the average curvature of the shells reach the detector located at the bottom of the analyzer In this thesis the electric fields in THEA are calculated by solving the Laplace’s equation using Gauss–Seidel method The Gauss-Seidel method is sped up using〝Flag technique〞where only points in THEA are calculated Trajectories of electrons with relativistic effect will be simulated using 4^th order Runge-Kutta method Results of calculated electric fields and electron trajectories are shown Simulations show that electron with energy of 21 7 keV can pass through the THEA The key parameter g-factor which represents the sensitivity of the THEA will also be simulated The g-factor of a THEA where the radius and the potential of the inner and outer sphere are 44 mm 45 mm 1kV and 0V respectively equals to 2 64 * ?10?^(-4)(cm^2-sr-keV/keV) Key words: Cube satellite Top-Hat Electrostatic Analyzers

Date of Award	2017 Aug 29
Original language	English
Supervisor	Po-Yu Chang (Supervisor)