NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Measurements of Electrical and Electron Emission Properties of Highly Insulating MaterialsHighly insulating materials often acquire significant charges when subjected to fluxes of electrons, ions, or photons. This charge can significantly modify the materials properties of the materials and have profound effects on the functionality of the materials in a variety of applications. These include charging of spacecraft materials due to interactions with the severe space environment, enhanced contamination due to charging in Lunar of Martian environments, high power arching of cables and sources, modification of tethers and ion thrusters for propulsion, and scanning electron microscopy, to name but a few examples. This paper describes new techniques and measurements of the electron emission properties and resistivity of highly insulating materials. Electron yields are a measure of the number of electrons emitted from a material per incident particle (electron, ion or photon). Electron yields depend on incident species, energy and angle, and on the material. They determine the net charge acquired by a material subject to a give incident flu. New pulsed-beam techniques will be described that allow accurate measurement of the yields for uncharged insulators and measurements of how the yields are modified as charge builds up in the insulator. A key parameter in modeling charge dissipation is the resistivity of insulating materials. This determines how charge will accumulate and redistribute across an insulator, as well as the time scale for charge transport and dissipation. Comparison of new long term constant-voltage methods and charge storage methods for measuring resistivity of highly insulating materials will be compared to more commonly used, but less accurate methods.
Document ID
20050215613
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Dennison, J. R.
(Utah State Univ. Logan, UT, United States)
Brunson, Jerilyn
(Utah State Univ. Logan, UT, United States)
Hoffman, Ryan
(Utah State Univ. Logan, UT, United States)
Abbott, Jonathon
(Utah State Univ. Logan, UT, United States)
Thomson, Clint
(Utah State Univ. Logan, UT, United States)
Sim, Alec
(Utah State Univ. Logan, UT, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
July 1, 2005
Subject Category
Electronics And Electrical Engineering
Meeting Information
Meeting: Workshop on Multifunctional Materials (Keystone III Workshop III)
Location: Keystone, CO
Country: United States
Start Date: August 21, 2005
End Date: August 26, 2005
Sponsors: Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Bolling AFB
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS8-02031
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available