Environment Exposure Tests of Electron-Emitting Film for Spacecraft Charging Mitigation

Design and Numerical Assessment of a Passive Electron Emitter for Spacecraft Charging Alleviation

“…It results in a local change of the anode potentials, negative of positive pending on the number of secondary electrons generated by this impact. A yield greater than unity will produce the amplification of the electric field, similarly as what is observed in [5], where a pre-breakdown situation is obtained. However, this is quite risky a situation since it may lead to ESD if the current rises too much.…”

“…In Part II-C, we describe how the voltage difference between the anode and cathode is obtained and maintained in passive mode. These two elements are independent from each other and can possibly be used to improve other systems such as [3]- [4]- [5].…”

“…Applying such carpets on sharp tips, of typical dimensions some tens or hundreds of micrometers, may lead in near future to large electric field amplification, due to the multiplication of both tip and CNT factors ( [7]- [8]). The second advantage of this cathode design is the better control of the electron emission area, as compared to ([4]- [5]).…”

“…The disadvantages of these systems rely on their complex spacecraft integration (voltage and current control in closed loop) and their energy consumption. Another promising technology operates in a completely passive manner, utilizing the field enhancement at the triple junction formed at the interface of metal and insulator exposed to space [5]. The disadvantage of this latter system relies on the potential difference between the anode and the cathode (passively induced by the environment) needed to trigger electron emission, which was more than 1.2 kV.…”

Evaluation of Electron-emitting Film for Spacecraft Charging Mitigation (ELFs Charm)

“…The mitigation technique proposed now is called electron-emitting film (ELFs-charm). [4][5][6] Its structure is shown in Fig. 3.…”