The electrical insulating materials used on solar cell array undergo degradation primarily due to their interaction with high energy protons, electrons and spaceplasma. The parameters that indicate the quality of the insulating materials are the surface resistivity and the dissipation factor of the insulating material.Pressure, temperature and radiation are synergistic multifactor stress parameters (1).The vacuum effects and the thermal effects have been investigated extensively but independently ( 2 ) . In order to understand the degradation processes and deterioration in the quality of the dielectric materials the theoretical model must be supported by experimental measurement of the materials. For accurate measurement of the change in above quantities an instrumentation and measurement systems was designed constructed and tested (3). Kapton, an insulating material used in space power system was investigated for its dielectric properties. This paper reports the preliminary results of the measurement of @ Proceedingssurface and volume resistivities, dielectric constant and dissipation factor of Kapton type H and V thin films of various thicknesses, at different temperatures and vacuum. MEASUREMENTS Two types of Kapton -H type and V type-were selected for investigation. The thicknesses chosen for H type were 1,2,3 and S mil and for V type they were 2,3 and 5 mil. manufacturers suggested specification. However, the samples showed variations in thickness. The sample thickness was measured These were at fourperipheral points and in the center The average of these values was used in calculating the experimental results. The surface resistivity and volume resistivity were measured under 20 millitorr pressure and 30, SO and 70 degree celcius temperatures. At each temperature the sample was subjected to 100 and 200 volts in sequence. The measurements of capacitance and dissipation factor were made on one set of samples at the temperature of 30, SO and 70 degrees celcius at 6 volts and 1000 Hz and another set at room temperature (25 "c) and 1989 Southeastcon 1377
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