Current integrator
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A current integrator is an electronic device performing a time integration of an electrical current, thus measuring a total electric charge.
One application of current integration is in ion beam deposition, where the measured charge directly corresponds to the number of ions deposited on a substrate, assuming the charge state of the ions is known. The two current-carrying electrical leads must to be connected to the ion source and the substrate, closing the electric circuit which in part is given by the ion beam.
A current integrator is also used to measure the electric charge on a faraday cup in a Residual gas analyzer to measure partial pressures of gasses in a vacuum.
