Study on extinction performance of IR interference materials exposed to atomic oxygen

Brass and graphite particles are effective Infrared Ray (IR) interference materials which were usually used in conventional passive jamming technology, but Atomic Oxygen (AO) may corrode them and weaken their performance if they were used in outer-space. For analyzing the effect of AO to IR interference materials and exploring whether the IR interference materials can be used in outer-space, an experiment was conducted to investigate the AO effects. The mass, X-ray diffraction and IR transmittance of the sample were characterized. Results showed that the mass of brass increased 0.004 mg•cm^-2 and the mass of graphite particles lost 0.117 mg•cm^-2 when the cumulative flux of AO reached 5.0×1019cm^-2. The mass extinction coefficients of IR band of 3~5μm and 8~12μm changed from 3.64 m²•g^-1 and 2.74 m²•g^-1 before AO exposure to 3.14 m²•g^-1 and 2.65 m²•g^-1 after AO exposure, the extinction capability of brass to IR was weakened. The mass extinction coefficients of IR band of 3~5μm and 8~12μm changed from 6.54 m²•g^-1 and 5.78 m²•g^-1 before AO exposure to 2.38 m2•g-1 and 2.27 m2•g-1 after AO exposure, the extinction capability of graphite particles to IR was weakened obviously.