HPEPL employs a wide range of plasma probe diagnostics and facility measurement techniques. HPEPL also employs a rigorous probe calibration and check-out procedure to accurately define the uncertainty of each measurement.
Laser Thomson Scattering
Laser Thomson scattering (LTS) is a technique that uses the number density and spectral distribution of photons scattered by free electrons to measure the electron temperature and electron number density of a plasma.
THz-TDS
Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) is a method by which material or plasma properties are determined through measurement of attenuation and refraction of broadband pulsed THz radiation in media.
Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM)
Quartz crystal microbalances (QCMs) are devices used to measure the rate of mass deposition per unit area by correlating changes in the measured frequency of an exposed quartz crystal resonator to a corresponding change in crystal mass.
Inverted Pendulum Thrust Stand
A null-type stand differs from other inverted pendulum thrust stands in that it actively holds the thrust stand in a nearly stationary position at all thrust levels. This eliminates changes in the elevation angle of the thrust vector and reduces error in the thrust measurement.
Thrust Stand for Pulsed-mode Devices
This thrust stand makes accurate measurements of thrust for devices operating in a pulsed mode. Many high-power thruster concepts such as magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters and pulsed inductive thrusters operate in short pulses.
Langmuir Probe
The Langmuir Probe is used to measure electron number density and electron temperature.
RF-compensated Langmuir Probe
This Langmuir probe employs both a floating electrode immediately adjacent to the probe tip and multiple RF chokes to facilitate measurements of electron number density and electron temperature in RF plasmas. Example RF plasmas include capacitively-coupled, inductively-coupled, and helicon discharges.
Faraday Probe – JPL
Faraday probes provide a measurement of ion current density. The measurement is often performed in angular sweeps across the thruster plume to quantify the divergence angle of the thruster plume. The probe pictured is modeled on the JPL nude Faraday probe design.
Emissive Probe
True to its name, the emissive probe obtains its measurement (plasma potential) by emitting electrons to neutralize the Debye sheath surrounding the probe.
High-Speed Axial Reciprocating Probe
The high-speed axial reciprocating probe (HARP) rapidly translates probes to enable measurements in high-energy plasma environments.
Retarding Potential Analyzer – HPEPL
A Retarding Potential Analyzer directly measures ion energy distribution by quantifying their ability to migrate across a biased grid. Three other grids provide shielding from the plasma and repulsion/suppression of electrons.
Retarding Potential Analyzer – AFRL
The Retarding Potential Analyzer makes a direct measurement of the ion energy distribution.
Hiden EQP 300
The EQP is a high-sensitivity energy analyzer and mass analyzer combined, enabling accurate measurements of ionization and energy distribution of arbitrary species.
ExB Probe
The E x B probe measures the charge state of ions.
Anode Flame Test Stand
HPEPL has developed a novel method for propellant flow characterization employing a premixed flame stabilized on the exit plane of the propellant distributor. This technique yields immediate visual feedback on the flow through the propellant distributor by making spatial nonuniformities in mass flow rate visible. A quantitative measure of the uniformity can be obtained by examination of the flame luminosity and its variability in circumferential and radial directions.