The production of platinum-coated silicate nanoparticle aggregates for use in hypervelocity impact experiments

Abstract

A c c e p t e d m a n u s c r i p t A c c e p t e d m a n u s c r i p t A c c e p t e d m a n u s c r i p t Abstract 33 34We present a method for producing metal-coated low-density (<~1600 kg m -3 ) aggregate 35 silicate dust particles for use in hypervelocity impact (HVI) experiments. Particles fabricated 36 using the method are shown to have charged and electrostatically accelerated in the Max 37Planck Institut für Kernphysik (MPI-K) 2 MV Van de Graaff accelerator, allowing the 38 production of impact ionization mass spectra of silicate particles (impacting at velocities 39 ranging from <4 km s -1 to >30 km s -1 , corresponding to sizes of >1 µm to <0.1 µm) using the 40 Large Area Mass Analyser (LAMA) instrument, designed for cosmic dust detection in space. 41Potential uses for the coated grains, such as in the calibration of aerogel targets similar to 42 those used on the Stardust spacecraft, are also discussed. 43 44 45

A 2 MV Van de Graaff accelerator as a tool for planetary and impact physics research

“…28 This opens up a whole new range of material types to simulate hypervelocity impacts. Table I shows a selection of materials used in the Heidelberg dust science lab.…”

Calibration of relative sensitivity factors for impact ionization detectors with high-velocity silicate microparticles

“…Here, we employed the metal-coating method developed by Hillier et al (2009). The thickness of the resulting platinum coating ranges between 5 and 15 nm (Höfer, 2010).…”

“…While qualitative calibration of II-TOF mass spectra has been performed for years using conductive material like metals, carbon and certain polymers (e.g., Stübig et al, 2001;Goldsworthy et al, 2002;Goldsworthy et al, 2003), the detailed study of silicates (e.g., quartz, anorthite, see Hillier et al, 2009Hillier et al, , 2012, became only recently possible due to a relatively new coating technique (Hillier et al, 2009). E.g., for the calibration of the PUMA/PIA instruments, regarding data from Comet Halley, only Fe, Ni, carbon and coated glass particles were available for electrostatic acceleration onto metal targets (e.g.…”

On the application of magnetic methods for the characterisation of space weathering products

“…In the interim, techniques have been developed to allow silicate minerals to be coated with a conductive layer and hence accelerated (e.g. Hillier et al, 2009); however, dust accelerators still provide only a limited dust flux that would result in prohibitively long exposure times.…”