Condensed Matter Physics Commons^™

Evaluation Of The Temperature And Time Dependence Of Electrostatic Breakdown, Charlie Sim

Senior Theses and Projects

The goal of this research was to investigate temperature and time dependent models for the electrostatic breakdown of polymeric spacecraft insulators. Temperature dependent breakdown was found by inducing an electrostatic breakdown in the prototypical polymer Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) at various temperatures. Time dependent breakdown was found by applying a static voltage to LDPE and measuring the time to electrostatic breakdown. No significant temperature dependence of the electrostatic breakdown of LDPE was observed in a temperature range of 150 K to 300 K. The time dependent results show that the time to electrostatic breakdown is modeled by a negative logarithmic …

Electrostatic Discharge In Spacecraft Materials, Jennifer Roth, Jr Dennison, Ryan C. Hoffman, David Peak

Senior Theses and Projects

Understanding the characteristics of electron beam bombardment that induce electrostatic discharge (ESD) of insulating materials is crucial to constructing an electrically stable spacecraft. A measurement system has been designed to determine the beam energy and charge flux densities at which typical spacecraft materials intended for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) undergo ESD. Because discharge events occur over time intervals ranging from nanoseconds to minutes, multiple detection methods were employed as charge was accumulated on a sample surface; these methods included monitoring of sample current and optical emissions from the sample surface. Each sample was also examined with optical microscopy …

Pulsed System For Optical Discharge Of Thin-Film Insulators, Jared Otterstrom, Ryan C. Hoffman, Jr Dennison

Senior Theses and Projects

Much research is being performed in order to characterize the charging of spacecraft materials. The importance and applications of this research is numerous and especially useful to the development of satellites¹. The USU Materials Physics group is currently performing research in this field related to electron emission for spacecraft materials¹. This includes testing sample material in an ultra high vacuum chamber. A problem encountered in this testing is that negative charge can build up on the sample material and modify the electron emission measurements². To remedy this problem, my senior project was to develop, …

Low Energy Electron Gun Power Control Unit, Chad Fish, Jr Dennison

Senior Theses and Projects

Near-Earth orbiting spacecraft are subject to a variety of physical environmental elements. Of these, natural space plasma and solar radiation produce spacecraft charging. Spacecraft charging consists of surface (external) and deep (internal) dielectric charging.

Natural space plasma is composed of electrons and positively charged atoms called ions. The plasma is generated by energy from solar radiation and high energy particles emitted by geomagnetic storms. The electrons produce a negative current and the ions produce a positive current. Positive photoelectron currents produced by solar radiation of spacecraft surfaces also add to the electrical fluxesⁱ.

As spacecraft move through the …

Fresnel And Fraunhofer Diffraction: Development Of An Advanced Laboratory Experiment, Jeff Adams

Senior Theses and Projects

The purpose of this lab is to help the student become more familiar with, or get a better feel for what is actually occurring, when observing the effects of double slit diffraction patterns. In most sophomore labs dealing with double slit diffraction, the student simply determines the diffraction angle, and slit spacing, from marking the positions of the maxima on the screen. No attempt is made to measure the relative intensity of the interference pattern, and see how the experimental data compare with the theory of interference and diffraction. In an attempt to further clarify this phenomena, we will attempt …