The Effects of Ionizing Radiation, Temperature and Space Contamination Effects on Photonic Coatings

摘要

Dust contamination is a serious problem for equipment and vehicles for space mission applications. The lunar regolith is chemically composed of several elements and compounds and lunar "weathering" has left the lunar soil with a relatively fine texture as illustrated by the grain-size distribution on soil taken from a mare region on Apollo 11. Previous investigations by NASA indicated a lunar regolith deposition rate of about 0.3 percent coverage per day, but the deposition rate is expected to be both geographically variable and also to vary from time to time. Dust gathers on photonic sensors inhibiting motion and data gathering. In addition, devices that require transparency to light for maximum efficiency such as solar photovoltaic power systems, video cameras and optical or infrared detectors will suffer from the dust accumulation. Another potential hazard is the unintentional capture of extraterrestrial bacteria or spores on the surfaces of the equipment, to the extent that can be anticipated, that might bring inadvertent and possibly catastrophic contamination of human habitats. This presentation will discuss the properties, as a function of ionizing radiation, temperature and space contamination effects, of a new type of self-cleaning and anti-contamination photonic coating for space mission applications.