Quarterly Technical Progress Report Number 1, 1 June-13 August 1962,
Abstract
Experimental studies of three types of ionizers were conducted. Ion extraction from the contained arc is difficult, so that only low currents and charge-to-mass ratios can be obtained with this type of source. The free arc and corona ionizers produce useful ion currents, but the investigation of these ionizers indicates a need for beam focusing and removal of electrons from the colloidal ion beam in the growth region. A new colloidal ion source was fabricated to study the effect of magnetic fields in the ionization region to accommodate propellant materials which require higher operating temperatures. This source will be operated in a new vacuum tank. A collector was fabricated to permit accurate evaluation of mass beam collimation. A quadrupole mass spectrometer has been employed in some experiments, but no chargeto-mass ratio measurements have been achieved with it yet. Hot wire anemometers have been obtained to investigate a new technique for detecting the presence of colloidal material. Tables and graphs of flow data were prepared for use over the mass flux range of interest. Analysis of the nucleation process indicates that sodium vapor would form a considerable amount of uncharged colloidal material as well as the charged particles. Cadmium and mercury seem much more likely to undergo preferential ionic nucleation. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 17, 1962
- Accession Number
- AD0290819
Entities
People
- A. Lucile Cox