Detector Testing

Technical specifications

Current and near future space missions to the gas giant systems imply instrumentation that is specific to extreme space environments dominated by high background radiation.

The lifetime of a space plasma instrument is, beside other factors, highly limited by the lifetime of the detectors. The latter ones, on the other hand, are highly sensitive not only to the particle species of interest, but also to the background radiation.

Provoked by the IRF instruments for the JUICE mission, a small test facility has been established to test the degradation and lifetime of channel electron multipliers (CEMs) for the JDC and the JNA instrument.

The incident radiation is simulated by secondary electrons, which are emitted from an aluminium surface through UV photons. Two UV-LEDs, thermally connected to the housing, serve as a source.

Photos: Philipp Wittmann, IRF