Patent ID: 8803072

Claim:
An apparatus which comprises: a) a sensor vacuum envelope; b) a means to introduce at least one sensor particle; c) a means to introduce said at least one sensor particle into the vacuum envelope; d) a means to cool and localize said at least one sensor particle; e) a means to transfer said at least one sensor particle into a sensor volume; f) a means to introduce particles to be measured into said vacuum envelope such that said particles to be measured interact with said at least one sensor particle; g) a means to measure a loss rate of said at least one sensor particle from the sensor volume; h) a means to determine trap depths at which the loss rate of said at least one sensor particle is measured; i) a means to determine a loss rate constant of said at least one sensor particle at known trap depths; and j) a means to determine incident particle flux based on said loss rate of said at least one sensor particle and said loss rate constant of said at least one sensor particle.