Aging and prompt effects on space material properties

Because conductivity is not a unique and stable property in space, it implies that we must comprehend as much as possible the different environmental effects that are likely to influence it. Two of these effects, which are radiation (prompt)-induced conductivity (RIC), total dose effects and delayed RIC (DRIC), have been studied at room temperature in the laboratory. In this paper, the surface potential decay method has been used to determine the conductivity of a set of seven materials used in space at two different steps of their expected life in geostationary orbit. Dark conductivity and RIC were determined on pristine samples and also on samples which received a certain level of total dose. The data measured on pristine and aged samples, which have been labeled beginning of life and middle of life, respectively, were incorporated into a material database MATREX into what we called the PIP1 material property list, enlarging the previous NASCAP list. Index Terms--Aging, dose effect, radiation-induced conductivity (RIC), space materials.