Study on Silver-plated Molybdenum Interconnected Materials for LEO Solar Cell Array

Abstract

Atomic oxygen (AO) is one of the most important environmental factors that affected the performance of low earth orbit spacecraft in orbit. In which, silver was the most common materials as the interconnected materials. However, with the poor AO resistance of silver, the interconnectors could be failure easier, and the lifetime of the spacecraft was also reduced. In this paper, the silver-plated molybdenum interconnected materials made by Ag thin films deposited on the Mo foils by vacuum deposition methods was studied. And the effects of the preparation process on the micro-structure of the Ag thin films, the interfacial adhesive strength and the electrical conductivity of the composites were investigated. It was found that the Ag thin films deposited on the Mo substrates coated the Ag thin films by ion beam assisted deposition(IBAD) methods exhibited a perfectly (200) preferred orientation. The interfacial adhesive strength had been increased to 18.58MPa. And the composites also have excellent electrical performance.