Error analysis of multi-needle Langmuir probe measurement technique

Aroh Barjatya; William Merritt

doi:10.1063/1.5022820

Error analysis of multi-needle Langmuir probe measurement technique

Rev Sci Instrum. 2018 Apr;89(4):043507. doi: 10.1063/1.5022820.

Authors

Aroh Barjatya¹, William Merritt¹

Affiliation

¹ Physical Sciences Department, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida 32114, USA.

PMID: 29716331
DOI: 10.1063/1.5022820

Abstract

Multi-needle Langmuir probe is a fairly new instrument technique that has been flown on several recent sounding rockets and is slated to fly on a subset of QB50 CubeSat constellation. This paper takes a fundamental look into the data analysis procedures used for this instrument to derive absolute electron density. Our calculations suggest that while the technique remains promising, the current data analysis procedures could easily result in errors of 50% or more. We present a simple data analysis adjustment that can reduce errors by at least a factor of five in typical operation.