Charging Properties of Space Used Dielectric Materials

Charging effects in space are widely dominated by intrinsic and radiation-induced conductivities (RICs) of the irradiated materials. These data are needed by the community to perform charging predictions for assigned missions. This paper was dedicated to the characterization of bulk conductivity and RIC of polymers, ceramics, and glasses and their evolution in regard to sample reproducibility, composition, structure variation, and environmental conditions, such as radiation dose rate, temperature, and electric field. Three different polymers have been tested in this paper: 1) fluorinated ethylene propylene; 2) PolyEther Ether Ketone; and 3) Ethylene TetraFluoroEthylene. Three nonpolymer materials have been tested as well: two borosilicate glasses and aluminum oxide Al₂O₃. The major objective was, for polymers, to understand physical variations of conductivity for similar materials and, for nonpolymers, to get better knowledge on the main physical contributions steering bulk conductivity and RIC at low temperature.