Miniature quartz crystal microbalance for spacecraft and missile applications

Quartz crystal microbalances (QCMs) have been used for over 20 years as contamination monitors in spacecraft to measure film deposition on sensitive surfaces such as optical mirrors, thermal radiators, and solar arrays. Only recently, however, have miniature QCMs been used in a cryogenically cooled infrared space telescope and in the seeker of a missile to measure optical contamination from outgassing materials. This article describes a missile application in which we coated a QCM with low outgassing hydrocarbon grease to trap and measure the mass of particles impinging on its surface. We also report the results of several experiments using different QCM sensors for both spacecraft and missile use. (Author)