QUACKEMS

Project Overview

QUACKEMS (QUAntitative Charge, Kinetic Energy, Mass Sensor) is an instrumentation development project that looks to measure the energy, mass, and charge of solar energetic particles from ~100’s of keV to dozens of MeV in the solar wind. These solar energetic particles, particularly the heavy ions (anything larger than helium), carry information that can help diagnose interplanetary acceleration processes, helping solve fundamental questions about how high-energy particles are accelerated in outer space.  A deeper understanding of these acceleration and transport processes will lead to better space weather forecasts, helping protect critical infrastructure and astronauts from solar storms. This project uses the fundamental design of energetic particle instruments from the past few decades (stacked silicon detectors), while using new sensor capabilities to measure the charge state of the ions, as well as the typical energy and mass. 

Status

QUACKEMS is in the early stages of the prototyping phase. SSEL students have designed circuitry to interface with the sensor as well as a structure to aid in the minimization of noise and for protection of the detector.

Mock-up of QUACKEMS instrument