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US 8,803,072 B2Granted
Method and device for accurately measuring the incident flux of ambient particles in a high or ultra-high vacuum environment
AssigneeBritish Columbia Institute of Technology
InventorsJames Lawrence Booth, David Erik Fagnan, Bruce George Klappauf, Kirk William Madison, Jicheng Wang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and method that can measure flux density in-situ under high vacuum conditions includes a means for confining a collection of identical, elemental sensor particles to a volume of space by initial cooling by laser or another method, then confinement in a sensor volume using externally applied magnetic and/or optical fields.
Claims21
An apparatus which comprises:
- a) a sensor vacuum envelope;
- b) a means to introduce at least one sensor particle;
- c) a means to introduce said at least one sensor particle into the vacuum envelope;
- d) a means to cool and localize said at least one sensor particle;
- e) a means to transfer said at least one sensor particle into a sensor volume;
- f) a means to introduce particles to be measured into said vacuum envelope such that said particles to be measured interact with said at least one sensor particle;
- g) a means to measure a loss rate of said at least one sensor particle from the sensor volume;
- h) a means to determine trap depths at which the loss rate of said at least one sensor particle is measured;
- i) a means to determine a loss rate constant of said at least one sensor particle at known trap depths;
- and
- j) a means to determine incident particle flux based on said loss rate of said at least one sensor particle and said loss rate constant of said at least one sensor particle.
8 more elements
A method for measuring the incident flux of particles in a vacuum environment, comprising:
- a) introducing at least one sensor particle into the test vacuum environment and a sensor volume;
- b) collecting and confining said at least one sensor particle inside the sensor volume;
- c) introducing a particle flux to be measured into the sensor volume;
- d) monitoring characteristics of said at least one sensor particle selected from the group consisting of a number of said at least one sensor particle and an internal state of said at least one sensor particle, within the sensor volume during a measurement time;
- e) measuring a rate of change of said characteristics of said at least one sensor particle;
- f) determining a sensor volume environment in which the rate of change of said characteristics of said at least one sensor particle is measured, the sensor volume environment being selected from the group consisting of electric, magnetic or electromagnetic fields of the sensor volume and trap depth of said at least one sensor particle;
- g) determining a rate-of-change constant of said characteristics of said at least one sensor particle for a state of said at least one sensor particle state and for the sensor volume environment;
- h) determining the incident flux based on the measured rate of change of said characteristic of said at least one sensor particle, the determined sensor volume environment, and the determined rate-of-change constant of said characteristic of said at least one sensor particle.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.