Patent ID: 6683311
Filing Date: 2004-01-27
Classification: H01J

Abstract:
A Cassegrain electrostatic mirror type deployable particle collector, comprising:a first electrostatic mirror, having a shaped electrically conductive primary particle reflection grid, held at an electrical potential for reflecting electrically charged particles, and a shaped electrically conductive primary reference grid having a radius smaller than that of the primary reflection grid, held at a ground reference electric potential, wherein the primary reflection grid and the primary reference grid have a common particle focus point for reflected electrically charged particles; a second electrostatic mirror, having a shaped electrically conductive secondary particle reflection grid, held at an electrical potential for reflecting electrically charged particles, and a shaped electrically conductive secondary reference grid having a radius smaller than that of the primary reflection grid, held at a ground reference electric potential, wherein the secondary reflection grid and the secondary reference grid have a common secondary particle focus point for reflecting electrically charged particles; wherein the first mirror and the second mirror are arranged in a Cassegrain configuration and wherein at least one of the mirrors has annular sections; and a deployment mechanism for reconfiguring the mirrors from a stowed state to a deployed state, the deployment mechanism operable to collapse or extend the annular sections.