Outstanding Radiation Tolerance of Supported Graphene: Towards 2D Sensors for the Space Millimeter Radioastronomy
Alesia Paddubskaya,
Konstantin Batrakov,
Arkadiy Khrushchinsky,
Semen Kuten,
Artyom Plyushch,
Andrey Stepanov,
Gennady Remnev,
Valery Shvetsov,
Marian Baah,
Yuri Svirko,
Polina Kuzhir
Affiliations
Alesia Paddubskaya
Institute for Nuclear Problems of Belarusian State University, Bobruiskaya Str. 11, 220006 Minsk, Belarus
Konstantin Batrakov
Institute for Nuclear Problems of Belarusian State University, Bobruiskaya Str. 11, 220006 Minsk, Belarus
Arkadiy Khrushchinsky
Institute for Nuclear Problems of Belarusian State University, Bobruiskaya Str. 11, 220006 Minsk, Belarus
Semen Kuten
Institute for Nuclear Problems of Belarusian State University, Bobruiskaya Str. 11, 220006 Minsk, Belarus
Artyom Plyushch
Institute for Nuclear Problems of Belarusian State University, Bobruiskaya Str. 11, 220006 Minsk, Belarus
Andrey Stepanov
Research and Production Laboratory “Pulse-Beam, Electric Discharge and Plasma Technologies”, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Lenin Ave, 30, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
Gennady Remnev
Research and Production Laboratory “Pulse-Beam, Electric Discharge and Plasma Technologies”, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Lenin Ave, 30, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
Valery Shvetsov
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Joliot-Curie 6, 141980 Dubna, Russia
Marian Baah
Institute of Photonics, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland
Yuri Svirko
Institute of Photonics, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland
Polina Kuzhir
Institute for Nuclear Problems of Belarusian State University, Bobruiskaya Str. 11, 220006 Minsk, Belarus
We experimentally and theoretically investigated the effects of ionizing radiation on a stack of graphene sheets separated by polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) slabs. The exceptional absorption ability of such a heterostructure in the THz range makes it promising for use in a graphene-based THz bolometer to be deployed in space. A hydrogen/carbon ion beam was used to simulate the action of protons and secondary ions on the device. We showed that the graphene sheets remain intact after irradiation with an intense 290 keV ion beam at the density of 1.5 × 1012 cm−2. However, the THz absorption ability of the graphene/PMMA multilayer can be substantially suppressed due to heating damage of the topmost PMMA slabs produced by carbon ions. By contrast, protons do not have this negative effect due to their much longer mean free pass in PMMA. Since the particles’ flux at the geostationary orbit is significantly lower than that used in our experiments, we conclude that it cannot cause tangible damage of the graphene/PMMA based THz absorber. Our numerical simulations reveal that, at the geostationary orbit, the damaging of the graphene/PMMA multilayer due to the ions bombardment is sufficiently lower to affect the performance of the graphene/PMMA multilayer, the main working element of the THz bolometer, which remains unchanged for more than ten years.
