Effect of environment on charge transport properties of polyimide films damaged by high-energy electron radiation
Abstract
Ground based measurements are critical to understanding the space environment-induced modifications of spacecraft materials and predictive spacecraft modeling. The interaction of high-energy electrons with spacecraft materials, such as polyimide (PI, Kapton-H®), is known to modify the material's chemical and consequently physical properties. Highly stable in its pristine state, radiation-damaged PI becomes chemically reactive due to the formation of species containing unpaired electrons (radicals). As a result, the reaction of residual gases, even at low partial pressures, changes the damaged PI's properties and obscures the understanding of the radiation damage mechanisms. In the presented paper, the authors demonstrated that even very limited air exposure will have a dramatic effect on the charge transport properties of radiation-damaged PI. Further, they also evaluated the effects of several major constituents of the Earth's atmosphere (Ar, N2, O2, and H2O) on the charge transport properties of PI damaged by exposure to 90 keV electrons.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2018
- Source ID
- 10.1116/1.5044184
Entities
People
- Dale C. Ferguson
- Daniel P. Engelhart
- E. Plis
- Russell Cooper
- Ryan Hoffmann
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Air Force Research Laboratory
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine