Transparent, Weakly Conductive Films for Space Applications

Physics

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Scientific paper

Electrically insulating spacecraft surfaces are vulnerable to nonuniform charge buildup due to particles emitted by the sun. On Mars, insulating surfaces of exploration vehicles and structures will be affected by dust coatings possibly held in place by triboelectric surface charge. Application of a conductive film may be a solution to the charging problem, but the coating must be highly transparent if used on solar panels, lenses, etc. Sheet resistivity requirements depend on the application and are in the range 10^2-10^8 ohms/square. Co-deposited indium tin oxide (ITO) and MgF2 is promising, with high transparency, tailorable electrical properties, and durability to atomic oxygen.(Joyce A. Dever et al., NASA TM 1998-208499 (August 1998).) Due to ITO's relatively narrow bandgap ( ˜3.5 eV), the film might absorb enough ultraviolet to protect polymeric substrates. Recent work on dual-magnetron-sputtered ITO-MgF2 showed that a variety of polymeric substrates can be coated at room temperature.(Thomas Cashman et al., Vacuum Technology & Coating, September 2003, p. 38.) However, the sheet resistivity is very sensitive to composition, suggestive of a percolation transition. This could be a serious problem for large-scale coating production. We will report on attempts to control film composition by plasma emission monitoring of the ITO and MgF2 guns. Supported by NASA Glenn Research Center, Cooperative Agreements NCC3-1033 and NCC3-1065.

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