Foil optimization for low energy neutral atom imaging

Magnetospheric imaging has been proposed using remote detection of low energy neutral atoms (LENAs) of magnetospheric origin. In the detector, LENAs can be removed from the immense ambient EUV by charge modification (ionization) using a carbon stripping foil and can be subsequently deflected into an E/q analysis section. The detector sensitivity efficiency of LENAs is highly dependent on the ionization probability of neutrals as they transit the carbon foil. In this study, we present equilibrium charge state distributions and scatter distributions for 1-30 keV atomic hydrogen and oxygen transiting 0.5 {mu}g cm{sup {minus}2} carbon foils. The fraction of hydrogen exiting a foil as H{sup +} ranges from approximately 5% at 1 keV to 41% at 30 keV. The fraction of oxygen exiting the foil as O{sup +} ranges from 2% at 10 keV to 8% at 30 keV. Results obtained after coating the exit surface of foils with either aluminum (which forms aluminum oxide when exposed to air) or gold suggests that the exit surface chemistry has no effect on the charge state distributions due to foil contamination from exposure to air. Scattering resulting from the atom-foil interaction is shown to be independent of the charge state distribution, suggesting that the interaction mechanisms resulting in charge exchange and scattering are distinctly different