X-ray transmission effects in a high-density dynamic-dusty plasma environment

Abstract

X-ray communication (XCOM), which employs modulated X-ray photons as the carrier for signal transmission, is a promising wireless optical technology for space applications, particularly during spacecraft blackout re-entry. Currently, several challenges related to XCOM require solutions, including incomplete transmission attenuation models and a lack of experimental verification of the dynamic-dusty communication effects. This study improved the XCOM transmission characteristics in high-density dynamic-dusty plasma based on a collision model. A dynamic-dusty plasma XCOM was built to verify a modulated X-ray tube and an alkali-metal plasma source. The results show that with an increase in photon energy and flow, the X-ray carrier achieves a higher transmission speed, which is sharper than that of photon energy under the influence of flow. When the average electron density of the dusty plasma is 1012–1013 cm−2, the plasma flow speed is 550–650 m/s, the macro temperature exceeds 1500 K, and the communication demonstration system achieves a stable data rate of 50 kbps at a bit error (BER) of 1.7 × 10−5 with a carrier amplitude and frequency of approximately 20 kV and 4.8 Mcps, respectively. This experiment yielded theoretical and actual values for the development of XCOM technology in space applications during re-entry blackouts.