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At least 37 records · Page 2

Test for contamination of MgF2 - coated mirrors

Graphs show preflight and postflight reflectivities in percent for exposed and covered mirrors carried on the OSS-1 payload pallet during STS-3. No changes greater than 1.8 sigma were observed except for a fingerprint. Weak evidence for degradation at 1216 A and 1600 A was found in several samples. There was no difference between flight mirrors and control mirrors. Covered samples suffered more than samples exposed to the Sun, but the differences are barely significant. The exposed side of the flight mirrors were somewhat dusty. No evidence was found for permanent solar-induced or shuttle-induced deterioration. There also was no evidence on oil-pumped vacuum versus oil-free vacuum during coating.

Bunner, A. N.↗

Atmospheric remote sensing of water vapor, HCl and CH4 using a continuously tunable Co:MgF2 laser

A differential-absorption lidar system has been developed which uses a continuously tunable (1.5-2.3 micron) cobalt-doped magnesium fluoride laser as the radiation source. Preliminary atmospheric measurements of water vapor, HCl, and CH4 have been made with this system, including both path-averaged and ranged-resolved DIAL measurements at ranges up to 6 and 3 km, respectively.

Menyuk, Norman↗

Optical glow spectra arising from low-energy N2, N2(+) and electron bombardment of MgF2 surfaces

Photon emission spectra resulting from the impact of N2, N2(+), and electron beams on magnesium fluoride in an ultrahigh vacuum environment were measured and compared for beam energies in the range 200-2000 eV. Unexpectedly, only the ion- and electron-induced spectra exhibited broad fluorescence. The observed data suggest that the broad fluorescence arising from low-energy ion bombardment is due primarily to the transfer of electronic energy to the surface by resonance or Auger neutralization. Since molecular nitrogen is a major constituent of the atmosphere at orbital altitudes, these measurements bear directly on radiation-induced glow and erosion processes on surfaces of spacecraft in low-earth orbit.

Qi, J.↗

Electrical Properties and Manufacturability of ITO-MgF2 and Related Transparent Arcproof Spacecraft Coatings

To investigate the applicability of co-deposited indium tin oxide and magnesium fluoride as a transparent arcproof coating on the exterior of PowerSphere microsatellites. This included testing coating performance after deposition on flexible polymeric substrates, determining whether ultraviolet (UV) radiation present during deposition might affect the UV-curing resin contained in the substrate, and preparation of coated polymeric samples for radiation damage studies by the PowerSphere team.

Hambourger, Paul D.↗

Optical Evaluation of DMDs with UV-Grade FS, Sapphire, MgF2 Windows and Reflectance of Bare Devices

Digital Micro-mirror Devices (DMDs) have been identified as an alternative to microshutter arrays for space-based multi-object spectrometers (MOS). Specifically, the MOS at the heart of a proposed Galactic Evolution Spectroscopic Explorer (GESE) that uses the DMD as a reprogrammable slit mask. Unfortunately, the protective borosilicate windows limit the use of DMDs in the UV and IR regimes, where the glass has insufficient throughput. In this work, we present our efforts to replace standard DMD windows with custom windows made from UV-grade fused silica, Low Absorption Optical Sapphire (LAOS) and magnesium fluoride. We present reflectance measurements of the antireflection coated windows and a reflectance study of the DMDs active area (window removed). Furthermore, we investigated the long-term stability of the DMD reflectance and recoating device with fresh Al coatings.

Quijada, Manuel A.↗

Transparent conducting thin films for spacecraft applications

Transparent conductive thin films are required for a variety of optoelectronic applications: automotive and aircraft windows, and solar cells for space applications. Transparent conductive coatings of indium-tin-oxide (ITO)-magnesium fluoride (MgF2) and aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) at several dopant levels are investigated for electrical resistivity (sheet resistance), carrier concentration, optical properties, and atomic oxygen durability. The sheet resistance values of ITO-MgF2 range from 10(exp 2) to 10(exp 11) ohms/square, with transmittance of 75 to 86 percent. The AZO films sheet resistances range from 10(exp 7) to 10(exp 11) ohms/square with transmittances from 84 to 91 percent. It was found that in general, with respect to the optical properties, the zinc oxide (ZnO), AZO, and the high MgF2 content ITO-MgF2 samples, were all durable to atomic oxygen plasma, while the low MgF2 content of ITO-MgF2 samples were not durable to atomic oxygen plasma exposure.

Perez-Davis, Marla E.↗

Radiation Damage Effects in Far Ultraviolet Filters and Substrates

New advances in VUV thin film filter technology have been made using filter designs with multilayers of materials such as Al2O3, BaF2, CaF2, HfO2, LaF3, MgF2, and SiO2. Our immediate application for these filters will be in an imaging system to be flown on a satellite where a 2 X 9 R(sub E) orbit will expose the instrument to approximately 275 krads of radiation. In view of the fact that no previous studies have been made on potential radiation damage of these materials in the thin film format, we report on such an assessment here. Transmittances and reflectances of BaF2, CaF2, HfO2, LaF3, MgF2, and SiO2 thin films on MgF2 substrates, Al2O3 thin films on fused silica substrates, uncoated fused silica and MgF2, and four multilayer filters made from these materials were measured from 120 nm to 180 nm before and after irradiation by 250 krads from a Co-60 gamma radiation source. No radiation-induced losses in transmittance or reflectance occurred in this wavelength range. Additional postradiation measurements from 160 nm to 300 nm indicated a 3 - 5% radiation-induced absorption near 260 nm in some of the samples with MgF2 substrates. From these measurements it is concluded that far ultraviolet filters made from the materials tested should experience less that 5% change from exposure to up to 250 krads of high energy radiation in space applications.

Keffer, Charles E.↗

A polarizer for vacuum ultraviolet

An MgF2 double Rochon prism, useful as a polarizer or analyzer in wavelengths longer than 1300A is described. Measurements of MgF2 transmission and of polarizer angular beam deviation from 1150 to 2900A are presented. The prism is comprised of 2.25 mm, MgF2 depolarizers, optically contacted. At normal incidence, a 4% transmission gain was measured from 6000 to 2200A, compared with air spaced elements. One depolarizer was vibrated to 40 g from 20 to 3500 Hz without deterioration in optical contact. Transmissions below 1400A are not good. In thin samples, surface loss is twice absorption loss in the range 1150 to 1500A. Refraction indices and a computer ray trace were used in processing photographic beam divergence data. If care is taken to remedy scattering effects, the prism is an efficient on-axis polarizer in the 1300 to 3000A range.

Steinmetz, D. L.↗

Transmission and reflection studies of thin films in the vacuum ultraviolet

Both the transmittance and reflectance of 2 mm thick MgF2 substrates and of thin films of BaF2, CaF2, LaF3, MgF2, Al2O3, HfO2, and SiO2 deposited on these substrates were measured for the wavelength range 120 nm to 230 nm. Results for BaF2, LaF2 and MgF2 show promise as being good materials from which interference filters can be made. The software and related hardware needed to take large amounts of data automatically in future measurements of the transmittance and reflectance was developed.

Peterson, Lennart R.↗

Magnesium fluoride as energy storage medium for spacecraft solar thermal power systems

MgF2 was investigated as a phase-change energy-storage material for LEO power systems using solar heat to run thermal cycles. It provides a high heat of fusion per unit mass at a high melting point (1536 K). Theoretical evaluation showed the basic chemical compatibility of liquid MgF2 with refractory metals at 1600 K, though transient high pressures of H2 can occur in a closed container due to reaction with residual moisture. The compatibility was tested in two refractory metal containers for over 2000 h. Some showed no deterioration, while there was evidence that the fluoride reacted with hafnium in others. Corollary tests showed that the MgF2 supercooled by 10-30 K and 50-90 K.

Lurio, Charles A.↗

Optical emission generated by collisions of 5 eV O(3P) atoms with surface-absorbed hydrazine

Optical emission has been observed corresponding to vibrational bands in the NH (A 3Pi - X 3Sigma(-)) electronic transition during collisions of 5 eV, ground-state oxygen O(3P) atoms with MgF2 and Ni surfaces continuously exposed to a beam of hydrazine (N2H4). The NH emission intensity is observed to be about five times greater for MgF2 than for Ni. No dependence on temperature was observed for either surface in the range 240 - 340 K, implying that the NH-producing intermediate species is tightly bound. The half-lifetime for desorption of hydrazine from each surface was measured. This was found to be 120 min for the MgF2 surface at 240 K, and less than 20 min for Ni. After exposure, the surface composition was measured using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on the exposed and unexposed areas of both targets.

Orient, O. J.↗

Indium Tin Oxide-Magnesium Fluoride Co-Deposited Films for Spacecraft Applications

Highly transparent coatings with a maximum sheet resistivity between 10(exp 8) and 10(exp 9) ohms/square are desired to prevent charging of solar arrays for low Earth polar orbit and geosynchronous orbit missions. Indium tin oxide (ITO) and magnesium fluoride (MgF2) were ion beam sputter co-deposited onto fused silica substrates and were evaluated for transmittance, sheet resistivity and the effects of simulated space environments including atomic oxygen (AO) and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation. Optical properties and sheet resistivity as a function of MgF2 content in the films will be presented. Films containing 8.4 wt.% MgF2 were found to be highly transparent and provided sheet resistivity in the required range. These films maintained a high transmittance upon exposure to AO and to VUV radiation, although exposure to AO in the presence of charged species and intense electromagnetic radiation caused significant degradation in film transmittance. Sheet resistivity of the as-fabricated films increased with time in ambient conditions. Vacuum beat treatment following film deposition caused a reduction in sheet resistivity. However, following vacuum heat treatment, sheet resistivity values remained stable during storage in ambient conditions.

Dever, Joycer A.↗