The effect of proton radiation on K-208 glass

As a result of the experimental study of the effect of protons with energies of 20 and 30 keV, typical for hot magnetospheric plasma (HMP), on the protective glass for K-208 solar batteries, carried out using an atomic force microscope, it was found that gas-filled bubbles and microcracks are formed in the glass in the case when the proton energy is 30 keV. The initial hypothesis is that the specified structural changes occur due to the field migration of sodium ions in the field of protons injected into the glass. In this paper, the passage of proton radiation with energies of 20 and 30 keV is simulated using the Geant4 package. It was found that the depths corresponding to the peak concentrations of protons injected into the K-208 glass are 240 and 350 nm, respectively, and the overwhelming majority of protons settle in a thin layer near these depths. The paper also presents the energy release curves for protons with the specified energies. It has been established that the main mechanism of energy loss by protons is ionization braking, which occurs intensively from the very beginning of proton movement through glass. Based on the results obtained using Geant4, the electric field inside the glass is calculated in cases where the sample is on a dielectric substrate and on a grounded metal substrate.