Low energy high angular resolution neutral atom detection by means of micro-shuttering techniques: the BepiColombo SERENA/ELENA sensor
Abstract
The neutral sensor ELENA (Emitted Low-Energy Neutral Atoms) for the ESA cornerstone BepiColombo mission to Mercury (in the SERENA instrument package) is a new kind of low energetic neutral atoms instrument, mostly devoted to sputtering emission from planetary surfaces, from E ~20 eV up to E~5 keV, within 1-D (2x76 deg). ELENA is a Time-of-Flight (TOF) system, based on oscillating shutter (operated at frequencies up to a 100 kHz) and mechanical gratings: the incoming neutral particles directly impinge upon the entrance with a definite timing (START) and arrive to a STOP detector after a flight path. After a brief dissertation on the achievable scientific objectives, this paper describes the instrument, with the new design techniques approached for the neutral particles identification and the nano-techniques used for designing and manufacturing the nano-structure shuttering core of the ELENA sensor. The expected count-rates, based on the Hermean environment features, are shortly presented and discussed. Such design technologies could be fruitfully exported to different applications for planetary exploration.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0811.4722,
title = {Low energy high angular resolution neutral atom detection by means of micro-shuttering techniques: the BepiColombo SERENA/ELENA sensor},
author = {S. Orsini and A. M. Di Lellis and A. Milillo and E. De Angelis and A. Mura and S. Selci and I. Dandouras and P. Cerulli-Irelli and R. Leoni and V. Mangano and S. Massetti and F. Mattioli and R. Orfei and C. Austin and J. -L. Medale and N. Vertolli and D. Di Giulio},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0811.4722},
year = {2009}
}
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11 pages