Thermal calorimetric detector for atomic hydrogen and deuterium beam measurements

A method for atomic hydrogen and deuterium beam intensity measurements by means of a low temperature thermal calorimetric detector due to beam atom recombination is discussed. It is shown that the method could have some advantages, in particular experimental conditions with respect to a conventional compression tube method especially for pulsed beams. The efficiency of recombination energy accommodation for atomic hydrogen and deuterium beams is experimentally determined. The effective efficiency is about 11% for hydrogen and about 18% for deuterium. Some applications of the method are presented.