Sputtering Yield of Carbon-Carbon Composite Due to Xenon Ion Bombardment in Ion Engines

Abstract

The angular and energy dependence of the sputtering yield of a carbon-carbon composite due to xenon ion bombardment was investigated. Instead of assuming surfaces to be flat, a simple carbon fiber distribution model was introduced to account for the carbon-carbon composite surface structure observed using a scanning electron microscope. Yamamura's semi-empirical sputtering formula, which accounted for 14% xenon adsorption, was used to calculate the sputtering yield of the carbon fiber surface. The proposed model provided fairly good estimates of the angular and energy dependence of the sputtering yield for the carbon-carbon composite. A comparative analysis of sputtering yield models demonstrated that the proposed model most accurately predicted both the accelerator and decelerator grid mass changes in the ®10 PM ion engine endurance test. In this paper, we present sputtering yield data over a range of xenon incidence energies from 0 to 2 keV and angles of incidence from 0 (normal incidence) to 90°.

A critical review and meta-analysis of xenon-on-carbon sputter yield data

“…52 Larger scale cylindrical structures formed by individual graphite fibers in carbon-carbon composites produce similar effects. 53 The results reviewed here provide conflicting evidence about the effect of μm-scale roughness on yield. Williams found that the yield on pyrolytic graphite for 1 keV xenon ions with a global incidence angle of 30 increased about 17% over the initial yield and stabilized after 2-2.5 μm were removed.…”

Transient Behavior of Ion Extraction and Acceleration of Variable Thrust Ion Thruster

“…The sputtering yield of the grid material was incorporated using the sputtering model in the form of tables of values for incident energies and incident angles. 15) The computational region of the analysis is a prism-shaped 30°-60°-90° region. We employed fine meshes (less than the Debye length) for the discharge and neutralization plasma regions.…”

Estimation of the Highest Surface Temperature for CFRP Ablator by Raman Analysis

“…Once this highest temperature estimation method is established, it will be useful not only for the aforementioned applications but also for supersonic aircraft parts and various engines. [22][23][24] Raman analysis is a commonly used technique for the evaluation of the degree of graphitization. Tallant et al 25) presented the temperature dependent Raman spectra for a heated rayon CFRP, which is a rayon-based carbon fiber-reinforced phenolic resin composite.…”