Carbon foils for space plasma instrumentation

Carbon foils have been successfully used for several decades in space plasma instruments to detect ions and neutral atoms. These instruments take advantage of two properties of the particle-foil interaction: charge conversion of neutral atoms and/or secondary electron emission. This interaction also creates several adverse effects for the projectile exiting the foil, such as angular scattering and energy straggling, which usually act to reduce the sensitivity and overall performance of an instrument. The magnitude of these effects mainly varies with the incident angle, energy, and mass of the incoming projectile and the foil thickness. In this paper, we describe these effects and the properties of the interaction. We also summarize results from recent studies with graphene foils, which can be made thinner than carbon foils due to their superior strength. Graphene foils may soon replace carbon foils in space plasma instruments and open new opportunities for space research in the future.