PICAM (Planetary Ion CAMera)

PICAM (Planetary Ion CAMera) is a mass spectrometer operating as an all-sky camera for positively charged particles. On BepiColombo/MPO, it aims at studying the chain of processes by which neutrals are ejected from the surface of Mercury, ionised and transported through the environment surrounding the planet.

The design of its electrostatic analyser facilitates measurements for the 3D velocity distribution and mass spectrum for ions over a 1.5π Field of View (FoV). It covers ions up to ~ 3 keV energies, with mass range extending up to ~ 132 a.m.u.

PICAM Flight Model

PICAM technological highlights

PICAM has an instantaneous 1.5π FoV detection, which drastically improves the time-resolution of the measurement, in comparison with the conventional FoV scanning method. For mass spectrometry, PICAM measures the impact-free Time-of-Flight (ToF) of ions, using a single-pulse or Hadamard gating technique. The wide mass range and a mass resolution better than ~ 50 is a unique capability, which provides a superior performance in the frame of the MPO science objectives.