Investigation of electrostatic potential barrier near an electron-emitting body

B. Thiébault (1) , A. Hilgers (1) , E. Sasot (1) , Julien Forest (1) , Vincent Génot (2) , C. P. Escoubet (3)

1 TOS-EES - Space Environments and Effects Analysis Section, ESTEC
2 CESR - Centre d'étude spatiale des rayonnements
3 RSSD - Research and Scientific Support Department, ESTEC

Electrons emitted on spacecraft surfaces can generate negative potential barriers. This may affect the equilibrium potential of the spacecraft, which can be driven more negative and jeopardise plasma measurements by repelling low energy particles. This phenomenon is investigated with the help of a numerical method based on the turning point formalism to classify orbits and which is validated with a PIC code. Comparison with spacecraft data in the magnetosphere is performed.

Keywords: 8th Spacecraft Charging Technology Conference

Domains: Astrophysics [astro-ph]; Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.CO]

B. Thiébault, A. Hilgers, E. Sasot, Julien Forest, Vincent Génot, et al.. Investigation of electrostatic potential barrier near an electron-emitting body. NASA/CP-2004-213091, 2004. ⟨hal-00306279⟩