The Flat Plasma Spectrometer - An Approach to Miniaturization with Aperture Enhancement

Fred A Herrero
NASA/GSFC

Concerns about the size of plasma spectrometers for the SEC constellation missions and the goal of an imaging plasma spectrometer with 4Pi steradian coverage led to the notion of a 2-dimensional array of miniature spectrometer elements. Each element consists of a collimator, an energy selector, and a particle counter. A module consisting of an array of spectrometer elements is laid out in a Silicon structure which may be square with side dimension of 1 cm or more; module thickness is expected to be about 3 mm. Each module then specifies a field of view (1 to 5 degrees) and can be aimed in any direction in space. For example, 72 modules with 5 degrees FOV provide 360 degree coverage with a total mass of about 200 gm and a power requirements of about 200 milliwatts. This example and others will be discussed with other issues regarding fabricability, reliability, and possible applications.