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ESCA study of Kapton exposed to atomic oxygen in low earth orbit or downstream from a radio-frequency oxygen plasmaThe ESCA spectra of Kapton polyimide film exposed to atomic oxygen O(3P), either in low earth orbit (LEO) on the STS-8 Space Shuttle or downstream from a radio-frequency oxygen plasma, were compared. The major difference in surface chemistry induced by the two types of exposure to O(3P), both of which caused surface recession (etching), was a much larger uptake of oxygen by Kapton etched in the O2 plasma than in LEO. This difference is attributed to the presence of molecular oxygen in the plasma reactor and its absence in LEO: in the former case, O2 can react with radicals generated in the Kapton molecule as it etches, become incorporated in the etched polymer, and thereby yield a higher steady-state 'surface oxidation' level than in LEO.
Document ID
19890041927
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Golub, Morton A.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Wydeven, Theodore
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Cormia, Robert D.
(Surface Science Laboratories Mountain View, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 14, 2013
Publication Date
October 1, 1988
Publication Information
Publication: Polymer Communications
Volume: 29
ISSN: 0263-6476
Subject Category
Nonmetallic Materials
Accession Number
89A29298
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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