The materials of spacecraft external surfaces in low Earth orbit (LEO) are exposed to the various constituents of the space environment, including atomic oxygen (AO) and solar ultra violet (UV) radiation. Material degradation and erosion by LEO are simulated in ground laboratories using a variety of experimental facilities, each with their respective limitations. rf oxygen plasma is a simulation facility widely used for materials screening for LEO application. However, the complex plasma environment, which contains, in addition to the neutral oxygen atoms, excited species, electrons, and ions as well as vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation, might lead to erroneous determination of materials reactivity with respect to LEO. This paper describes the development of a simple, low cost rf plasma system to produce a well-defined AO and VUV environment. The new system constrained the afterglow flow through two right-angle turns. The afterglow was characterized at three specific locations by (i) optical emission spectroscopy for assessment of electronically excited states, (ii) current measurements, and (iii) UV radiation measurements. Kapton® samples were exposed at the three specific locations in the system and characterized by mass loss for etch rate evaluation, and atomic force microscopy for surface modification. It was found that there is a significant reduction in ionic species, excited species, and UV radiation as the afterglow advances through the right-angle turns. The reduction in charged particle flux is due to recombination within the afterglow as well as neutralization by colliding with the grounded metal chamber walls; similar decrease in UV radiation flux occurs through radiation absorption by the chamber walls. Finally, it is shown that the ground state AO is the dominant reactive specie of the plasma afterglow after passing through the two right-angle turns.
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February 2008
Research Article|
February 27 2008
rf plasma system as an atomic oxygen exposure facility
Z. Shpilman;
Z. Shpilman
1
Space Environment Section
, Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel
2Department of Physics,
Technion—Israel Institute of Technology
, Haifa 32000, Israel
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I. Gouzman;
I. Gouzman
a)
1
Space Environment Section
, Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel
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G. Lempert;
G. Lempert
1
Space Environment Section
, Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel
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E. Grossman;
E. Grossman
1
Space Environment Section
, Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel
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A. Hoffman
A. Hoffman
3Schulich Department of Chemistry,
Technion—Israel Institute of Technology
, Haifa 32000, Israel
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Z. Shpilman
1,2
I. Gouzman
1,a)
G. Lempert
1
E. Grossman
1
A. Hoffman
3
1
Space Environment Section
, Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel
2Department of Physics,
Technion—Israel Institute of Technology
, Haifa 32000, Israel
3Schulich Department of Chemistry,
Technion—Israel Institute of Technology
, Haifa 32000, Israel
a)
Electronic mail: [email protected].
Rev. Sci. Instrum. 79, 025106 (2008)
Article history
Received:
December 27 2007
Accepted:
February 03 2008
Citation
Z. Shpilman, I. Gouzman, G. Lempert, E. Grossman, A. Hoffman; rf plasma system as an atomic oxygen exposure facility. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 1 February 2008; 79 (2): 025106. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2885044
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