Portable space charge measurement system for space environment monitoring

The condition of materials affected by radiation is one of the concerns in space technology. Upon irradiation, polymeric materials store charges, resulting in deterioration or breakdown. We have developed a small pulsed electroacoustic (PEA) system that can be mounted in a vacuum chamber, in order to measure the internal space charge of materials during irradiation. In this paper, we describe the configuration of a portable space charge measurement system, and introduce an example of a PEA unit mountable in a vacuum chamber. The results suggest that the portable space charge observation system is applicable to space environment monitoring as well as various industrial research fields.