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Full-Text Articles in Physics
Pre-Breakdown Arcing And Electrostatic Discharge In Dielectrics Under High Dc Electric Field Stress, Allen Andersen, Jr Dennison
Pre-Breakdown Arcing And Electrostatic Discharge In Dielectrics Under High Dc Electric Field Stress, Allen Andersen, Jr Dennison
Journal Articles
Highly disordered insulating materials exposed to high electric fields will, over time, degrade and fail, potentially causing catastrophic damage to devices. Step-up to electrostatic discharge (ESD) tests were performed for two common polymer dielectrics, low density polyethylene and polyimide. Pre-breakdown transient current spikes or arcs were observed, using both slow and high speed detection. These pre-ESD discharge phenomena are explained in terms of breakdown modes and defect generation on a microscopic scale. The field at which pre-breakdown arcing begins was compared to the onset field for electrostatic discharge at which complete breakdown occurs for each material studied. We present evidence …
Feasibility Of Detecting Spacecraft Charging And Arcing By Remote Sensing, Dale C. Ferguson, Jeremy Murray Krezan, David A. Barton, Jr Dennison, Stephen Gregory
Feasibility Of Detecting Spacecraft Charging And Arcing By Remote Sensing, Dale C. Ferguson, Jeremy Murray Krezan, David A. Barton, Jr Dennison, Stephen Gregory
Journal Articles
More than 50 years after the dawn of the space age, most spacecraft still do not have sensors onboard capable of detecting whether they are at potentials likely to put them at risk of severe charging and the concomitant arcing, or, indeed, even capable of detecting when or if they undergo arcing. As a result, anomaly resolution has often been hit or miss, and false diagnoses are probably common. In this paper, a few remote sensing techniques that could be applied for remotely detecting spacecraft charging and/or arcing, and their feasibility, are examined: surface glows from high-energy electron impact, x-rays …