EXPOSURE OF SPACE MATERIAL INSULATORS TO ENERGETIC IONS

To understand degradation of materials due to ion bombardment in a spa ce plasma environment, polymers of polyimide, polyetheretherketone and perfluoroalkoxy, and glasses coated with MgF2 were exposed to ion bea ms of oxygen and nitrogen with energy levels ranging from 600 eV to 5 keV. For the polymers, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis show ed that the addition reaction of oxygen or nitrogen atoms or the disru ption or separation of various structural compounds occurred depending on ion energy and dose. For the glass plate, the coating layer of MgF 2 was drastically sputtered. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.