Related papers: Electrospray Propulsion Time-of-Flight Secondary I…
The operational lifetime of ionic liquid electrospray propulsion systems is limited by plume-extractor electrode interactions. Over time, propellant accumulation, surface erosion, and electrical shorts degrade the extractor and therefore…
Here we present the first fully two-dimensional time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry survey of a vacuum electrospray plume, generated by a tungsten needle externally-wetted with the ionic liquid 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium…
Nonintrusive measurements of plasma properties are essential to evaluate, and numerically simulate, the in-flight performance of electric propulsion systems. As a logical first step in the development of new diagnostic techniques, this work…
Electrospray thrusters are one important type of micropropulsion systems being developed for next-generation space missions, yet the primary challenge to their operational lifespan is propellant overspray resulting from wide plume angles…
Here we present a novel method for two-dimensional steering of vacuum electrospray ionization beams to better understand their angular properties. Utilizing an externally wetted tungsten needle with the ionic liquid…
Using a helium ion hitting various metal surfaces as a model system, we describe a general quantum-kinetic approach for calculating ion-induced secondary electron emission spectra at impact energies where the emission is driven by the…
The testing of atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion intakes is an important step in the development of functional propulsion systems which provide sustained drag compensation in very low Earth orbits. To make satellite operations more…
Microscope mode imaging for secondary ion mass spectrometry is a technique with the promise of simultaneous high spatial resolution and high speed imaging of biomolecules from complex surfaces. Technological developments such as new…
A Computationally Assisted Spectroscopic Technique to measure secondary electron emission coefficients ($\gamma$-CAST) in capacitively-coupled radio-frequency plasmas is proposed. This non-intrusive, sensitive diagnostic is based on a…
Electrospray thrusters are emerging as a leading propulsion technology for CubeSats, offering high specific impulse ($I_{sp} > 1000$ s) and low power requirements. However, the divergent ion plumes can impinge on spacecraft surfaces,…
Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) is a well-known, sensitive and rapid technique to detect dangerous organic compounds. We propose a system in which a crown type discharge generates a ionic flow that is swept towards an array of collectors by…
The irradiation with fast ions with kinetic energies of > 10 MeV leads to the deposition of a high amount of energy along their trajectory (up to several ten keV/nm). The energy is mainly transferred to the electronic subsystem and induces…
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), a century-old technique, is today a ubiquitous method of imaging the surface of nanostructures. However, most SEM detectors simply count the number of secondary electrons from a material of interest, and…
The transport of sputtered species from the target of a magnetron plasma to a collecting surface at the circumference of the plasma is analyzed using a particle tracer technique. A small chromium insert at the racetrack position inside a…
Isochronous mass spectrometry (IMS) in storage rings is a powerful tool for mass measurements of exotic nuclei with very short half-lives down to several tens of microseconds, using a multicomponent secondary beam separated in-flight…
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a well-known tool for studying surface roughness and to collect depth information about features on the top atomic layer of samples. By combining secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) with focused ion beam…
In applied forms of time-of-flight mass spectrometry utilizing ion storage devices prior to an analysis device, a non instantaneous electric ejection pulse applied in the region of ion storage is used to accelerate ions into the…
Spectroscopic investigations of the properties of a plasma produced by a flashboard plasma source, commonly used in pulsed plasma experiments, are presented. The plasma is used to prefill a planar 0.4-ms-conduction time plasma opening…
This study demonstrates the feasibility of using smaller capillary emitters to achieve higher specific impulse ($I_\text{sp}$) in electrospray propulsion. Four ionic liquids were characterized using capillary emitters with tip diameters…
Electrospray ion-beam deposition (ES-IBD) is a versatile tool to study structure and reactivity of molecules from small metal clusters to large protein assemblies. It brings molecules gently into the gas phase where they can be accurately…