Abstract
To study the reaction products of atomic oxygen impingement on spacecraft external materials, a quadrupole mass spectrometer coupled to transfer ion optics has been integrated into a space simulation chamber, equipped with a laser-assisted source of fast oxygen atoms. The mass spectrometer is used in a time-of-e ight mode, which makes it possible to separate the effects of uv ‐vuv photons, oxygen ions, and oxygen atoms, all of which are present simultaneously in the pulsed neutral beam. Neutral surface reaction products are ionized either by charge transfer or by nonresonant laser multiphoton ionization. Initial studies on three polymer samples evidence a high analytical sensitivity, making it possible to detect and to differentiate the reaction products. Comparison between mass spectra data and direct mass loss measurements on several polymeric materials shows the semiquantitative aspect of the analysis technique that has been developed.
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