Additively manufactured plastic plasma spectrometer.

Area of Science:

• Space plasma physics
• Instrument development
• Additive manufacturing

Background:

• Traditional electrostatic analyzers (ESAs) are crucial for space plasma measurements but can be complex and heavy.
• Additive manufacturing offers potential for novel instrument designs and reduced production costs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and test a low-resource, 3D-printed tophat electrostatic analyzer (ESA) for space plasma measurements.
• To evaluate the performance of an ESA manufactured from carbon nanotube-infused polyether ether ketone (CNT-PEEK).

Main Methods:

• Additive manufacturing (fused deposition modeling) was used to create a four-piece plastic ESA.
• Conducting electrodes were printed using CNT-PEEK, and an insulating support used pure PEEK.
• The ESA was tested for electrical conductivity, vibration resistance, electron beam illumination, temperature variations, and UV exposure.

Main Results:

• The 3D-printed CNT-PEEK ESA demonstrated sufficient electrical conductivity for high time-resolution measurements.
• The plastic ESA passed vibration, electron beam, temperature, and UV exposure tests.
• Performance, including energy/angle bandpasses, closely matched simulations and showed superior out-of-band and UV photon rejection compared to a machined aluminum ESA.

Conclusions:

• 3D-printed CNT-PEEK ESAs offer a viable low-resource alternative for space plasma instruments.
• This technology enables significant mass savings, complex geometries, and simplified manufacturing processes.
• Further investigation into surface charging effects at specific beam energies is warranted.