An electrostatic time-of-flight analyzer for simultaneous energy and mass determination of neutral particles

A neutral particle energy analyzer has been developed to measure both the energy and the mass of the incoming particles with only one array of detectors. Energy analysis is performed by means of deflection in an electrostatic field. The mass of the particle is determined by measuring the flight time from a stripping foil to a channel electron multiplier in the focal plane of the analyzer. The application of a stripping foil instead of a gas cell increases the stripping efficiency and simplifies the vacuum system. Monte Carlo simulation studies and first calibration experiments show that the analyzer can be used even at energies down to 1 keV, as long as the stripping foil does not exceed a thickness of 2.0 μg/cm2. These simulations take into account the angular and energy straggling processes that take place in the foil. A triple-coincidence technique can be applied to decrease the sensitivity of the analyzer to neutron and gamma background radiation considerably, as will be shown by calculations.