Measurement of Secondary Electron Yield (SEY) from Insulators Using Single-Electron Detection Techniques

Completed TRL 2 (started at 2, targeting 4)

Description

Secondary Electron Yield (SEY) is a material property that plays a fundamental role in material and spacecraft charging. SEY values for electrically insulating materials (insulators) are crucial inputs to models used to assess mission risk posed by high differential voltages and electrostatic discharge (ESD) on spacecraft. There are only two (non-NASA) facilities that attempt such measurements. The lack of NASA capability results in high cost and long, unpredictable schedules to obtain measurements. Future Artemis crewed lunar surface missions will involve the first use of many insulating materials for which SEY properties are poorly understood or absent entirely. Unconstrained SEY values in models increase uncertainty in charging/ESD risk assessment. The capability for reliable SEY determination will lead to improved charging and ESD risk assessments. Our measurement approach also provides enhanced data, not available with current methods, that could improve SEY theoretical model predictions. We propose to conduct proof-of-principle measurements, using single-electron detection techniques, toward development of a new capability to measure secondary electron yield (SEY) from insulating materials. Present methods for SEY measurement on insulators suffer from highly inconsistent results due to sample charging from the incident electron beam during the measurement.

Benefits

Our objective is to develop a new in-house NASA capability to measure secondary electron yield (SEY) from insulating materials in order to determine whether our technical approach is feasible and further efforts are warranted. The Agency alignment is broad-platform mission pull in that all Risk Class A-B spacecraft, habitation structures, or systems exposed to the space radiation environment must be assessed for ESD/charging risk using modeling tools, where material SEY is a critical input. ESD/charging is the leading cause of anomalies and system/mission loss according to a 2001 Aerospace Corporation Technical Report. This proposal, if successful, would be disruptive since existing technology would be employed in a new process.

Details

Technology area	Materials, Structures, Mechanical Systems, and Manufacturing
Program	Center Innovation Fund: MSFC CIF (MSFC CIF)
Lead organization	Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
Start date	2023-10-01
End date	2024-09-30

Project contacts

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Peter F Bertone — peter.bertone@nasa.gov

How to get involved

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