Optimizing Electrodynamics Sensor Properties for High-AO Fluence Environment Project

To investigate the oxidation of sensor coatings in order to develop more robust sensors that can be used not only for Atmosphere-Space Transition Region Explorer (ASTRE) but for similar missions in planetary atmospheres where atomic oxygen is present like MAVEN (Mars atmosphere), and PVO (Venus upper atmosphere). Initially, NASA GRC and GSFC will be studying the oxidation of molybdenum (highly oriented crystal and single crystal) and aluminum titanium nitride coatings and comparing to the performance of the sensor standard materials. In addition to chemical and thermal analysis, the surface conductivity and work function uniformity will be measured before and after exposure to selected levels of atomic oxygen to better understand oxide growth on conductive surfaces, and the effect of the resulting oxide on surface properties.

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