Microparticle acceleration by a Van de Graaff accelerator and application to space and material sciences

• Published in: Radiation physics and chemistry (Oxford, England : 1993) Vol. 60; no. 4; pp. 277 - 282
• Main Authors: Shibata, Hiromi, Kobayashi, Koichi, Iwai, Takeo, Hamabe, Yoshimi, Sasaki, Sho, Hasegawa, Sunao, Yano, Hajime, Fujiwara, Akira, Ohashi, Hideo, Kawamura, Toru, Nogami, Ken-ichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2001
• Subjects: Dust; Impact rates; Microparticle; Van de Graaff accelerator; Microparticle; Dust; Van de Graaff accelerator; Impact rates
• ISSN: 0969-806X; 1879-0895
• DOI: 10.1016/S0969-806X(00)00362-5

A microparticle (dust) ion source has been installed in the 3.75 MV Van de Graaff electrostatic accelerator and a new beam line for microparticle experiments has been built at the HIT facility of Research Center for Nuclear Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo. Microparticle acceleration has been successful in obtaining expected velocities of 1–20 km/s or more for micron- or submicron-sized particles. Development of in situ dust detectors on board satellites and spacecraft in the expected mass and velocity range of micrometeoroids and investigation of hypervelocity impact phenomena by using time-of-flight mass spectrometry, impact flash measurement and scanning electron microscope observation for metals, polymers and semiconductors bombarded by micron-sized particles have been started.