Development of Passive Field Electron Emission Device (ELF/PEO) for Spacecraft Charging Mitigation in Polar Earth Orbit

我们开发了ELF（电子发射膜）来减轻航天器的充电。ELF是在蚀刻铜板上涂上含氟聚合物的薄膜。该涂层是利用由于轨道上的高能电子而使涂层带电，以被动方式使电子场发射。在发射至极地轨道680公里的“和佑二号”纳米卫星上进行了极低频卫星在轨演示。我们证实了氟聚合物在极光区带电，电子发射电流高达6μA。

We developed ELF (ELectron-emitting Film) to mitigate spacecraft charging. ELF is film made of fluoro-polymer coating over etched copper plate. The coating is to make electron field emission in a passive manner utilizing the charging of the coating due to energetic electrons in orbit. We carried out on-orbit demonstration of ELF onboard a nanosatellite, HORYU-II, that was launched to 680km polar orbit. We confirmed charging of the fluoro-polymer and the electron emission current up to 6μA over the aurora zone.