The impact flash from hypervelocity impact on thin (12.5 µm) Kapton film was observed. The projectile sizes ranged from 0.1 to 1 mm, with speeds from 2 to 5 km s and penetrated the Kapton intact, leaving holes the same size as the projectile (to within measurement errors). The flash intensity (normalised to impactor mass) scaled with impact speed to the power 5.5. However, the data also suggest that at constant speed the intensity scales with the area of the hole in the Kapton and not the projectile mass (i.e. with some property of the target and not as a function of the projectile energy or momentum). Using two layers of Kapton, it was possible to construct a Time of Flight (TOF) system, which used the time of the onset of the flash in each layer to produce flight speeds accurate to within typically 1%. When compared to the projectile speed pre-impact, there was no indication of projectile deceleration during passage through the Kapton film. In addition, when PVDF acoustic sensors were placed on the Kapton film, they exhibited an electromagnetic “pick-up” signal from the impact of projectile on the Kapton, confirming suspicions of signal interference from past work with acoustic sensors. The ability of the light flash to provide accurate impact timing signals suggests the TOF system would be suitable for use as a cosmic dust or debris impact detector in space (e.g. Low Earth Orbit).

中文翻译：

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对单层和双层 Kapton 目标进行超高速撞击诱导闪光实验，以开发飞行时间空间灰尘和碎片探测器

观察到超高速撞击薄 (12.5 µm) Kapton 薄膜时产生的撞击闪光。弹丸尺寸范围为 0.1 至 1 毫米，速度为 2 至 5 公里/秒，完整地穿透 Kapton，留下与弹丸大小相同的孔（在测量误差范围内）。闪光强度（归一化为撞击器质量）随撞击速度的 5.5 次方变化。然而，数据还表明，在恒定速度下，强度与 Kapton 中的孔面积而不是弹丸质量成比例（即，具有目标的某些属性，而不是弹丸能量或动量的函数）。使用两层 Kapton，可以构建飞行时间 (TOF) 系统，该系统利用每层中闪光开始的时间来产生精确度通常在 1% 以内的飞行速度。与撞击前的弹丸速度相比，在穿过 Kapton 薄膜期间没有迹象表明弹丸有减速。此外，当将 PVDF 声学传感器放置在 Kapton 薄膜上时，它们会表现出弹丸撞击 Kapton 时产生的电磁“拾取”信号，证实了过去声学传感器工作中对信号干扰的怀疑。闪光提供准确撞击计时信号的能力表明TOF系统适合用作太空中的宇宙尘埃或碎片撞击探测器（例如近地轨道）。