Influence of electron beam irradiation on DC surface flashover of polyimide in vacuum

A satellite operates in a harsh environment including high vacuum and radiations. The vacuum-dielectric interface is the most vulnerable area to flashover discharge. Moreover, the presence of electron radiation will further decrease the flashover voltage. However, the influence of electron radiation on surface flashover remains unclear. We have performed a study on vacuum DC surface flashover during electron beam irradiation as a function of electron kinetic energy and incident direction on polyimide representative of spacecraft dielectrics. The electron radiation was accompanied by electron deposition and bombardment effects on the polyimide surface. The surface flashover voltage was experimentally found to significantly depend on the kinetic energy and incident angle of the electron beam. By calculating the trajectories of incident electron beam, we further found that the surface flashover voltages are closely connected to the irradiated area. During low energy electron beam irradiation, kinetic electrons are repelled away from the dielectric surface by the applied electric field, and deposited electrons will be dominant in the flashover process, promoting the surface flashover voltage. However, when the electron beam energy is high, kinetic electrons can overcome the applied electric field and strike the dielectric surface to generate secondary electrons, which will replace the field-emission electrons to serve as seed electrons, and initiate the flashover at a much lower applied voltage. These observations and analyses are expected to benefit the research into mitigating spacecraft discharge, and promote the knowledge of surface flashover.