The performance of solar arrays, thermal-control surfaces, and optical components is severely degraded by molecular contaminants outgassed from spacecraft materials. These outgassed molecular contaminants are reportedly deposited in “droplet” configurations. The size of droplets, on the order of single to tens of micrometers, far exceeds the amplitudes of the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths, implying that these droplet configurations are highly capable of scattering the incident light. For optical components of spacecraft, their optical properties in these spectral regions are particularly affected by the presence of droplet contaminants. Silicone adhesives are commonly used for spacecraft and are a well-known contamination source. Hence, silicone contaminants were deposited on quartz substrate, and then the optical characteristics of the contaminated substrates were investigated. To obtain optical constants for silicone contamination, the hemispherical spectral transmittance of the contaminant film was calculated using the effective medium approximation theory and the multiple reflectance/transmittance model. The directional spectral transmittance was simulated using these optical constants and rigorous coupled-wave analysis numerical calculations. This is the first trial for the calculation of optical properties for droplet-configuration contaminants. This method shows potential as a possible means to simulate the directional transmittance spectrum of droplet contaminants.
Numerical Calculation of Optical Properties of Silicone-Contaminant Films
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets ; 53 , 6 ; 1152-1158
2016-11-01
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Numerical Calculation of Optical Properties of Silicone-Contaminant Films
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