A reaction-diffusion model for atomic oxygen interacting with spacecraft surface protective materials in low earth orbit environment

When hyperthermal atomic oxygen collides with a silicon surface, an ultrathin oxidation regime characterized by fractional atomic-oxygen anions having low diffusive and reactive barriers, along with their enhanced diffusion due to both the electric field and image potential, will form on the surface. In accordance with these properties, an attempt was made in the present study to modify the Almeida-Goncalves-Baumvol (AGB) model by setting the diffusivity and reaction rate constant to be diffusion-length dependence. According to the modified model, numerical parametric studies for oxidation thin growth were performed. The dependencies of the diffusion coefficient, the reaction rate constant, the attenuation length, and the adjustable parameter upon the translational kinetic energy, flux, temperature, and tangential flux of atomic oxygen were analyzed briefly via the fitting of the experimental data given by Tagawa et al. The numerical results confirmed the rationality of the modified diffusion-reaction model. The model together with the computer code developed in this study would be a useful tool for thickness evaluation of the protective film against the oxidation of atomic oxygen toward spacecraft surface materials in LEO environment.