Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 1989
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1989nimpa.279..625s&link_type=abstract
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A, Volume 279, Issue 3, p. 625-639.
Physics
10
Scientific paper
A series of experiments have been completed using accelerator dust particles in the mass range ~10-9-10-6 g and velocity range ~2-12 km/s to measure the velocity loss and degree of fragmentation for dust particles penetrating 6 and 28 μm thick polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) dust detectors. These measurements prove that even for a ratio of PVDF foil thickness to particle diameter as large as 0.6, the velocity loss and fragmentation is far less than expected from earlier reports in the literature. For example, for 28 μm thick PVDF foils the velocity loss is ~ 20%, the fraction of particles suffering serious fragmentation is ~ 50% and the angular dispersion or ``spray angle'' of the fragments from the incident particle direction is <= 3°. For 6 μm thick foils the velocity loss is <= 5%. These experiments are based on an extension of our earlier work which showed that two PVDF foils spaced a given distance apart could provide accurate time-of-flight (TOF) information due to the fast pulse rise time of PVDF detector response. We also report on our present state of development of PVDF position-sensing detectors which identify the x, y coordinates of particle impact, using detector and electronic pulse techniques adapted from our semiconductor position-sensing cosmic-ray detectors. Typical position errors of ~ 1 mm are readily achieved. Finally, we have combined the above developments into a dust-particle telescope which accurately (~ 1° angular accuracy) measures the trajectory of the incident particle as well as its mass and incident velocity, irrespective of whether it is a charged or neutral particle. We discuss how this practical dust telescope can be combined with dust capture cells for space flight and later recovery for laboratory determination of elemental and isotopic composition of captured dust. We also describe a simpler trajectory array based on discrete mosaics of thin detectors which would measure trajectories with a mean angular error of ~ 4°. We discuss the application of these instruments for distinguishing between interplanetary dust of cometary and asteroidal origin, and for measurements on a space station, from near-Earth trapped dust of artificial origin.
Simpson André J.
Tuzzolino Anthony J.
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