Material removal mechanism chemical contributions

Measurements of erosion yields and surface chemistry provide information about the net result of the complex reactions that occur at a surface during extensive exposure to atomic-oxygen and to any other elements of the exposure environment. While inferences may be made about the chemical and physical interactions at the surface, such studies are an insensitive probe of the individual reaction and interaction mechanisms that accumulatively contribute to the net results. Experiments can, however, be designed to study the various steps of the overall erosion process. These steps involve initial interactions of O atoms with a surface (initiation), oxidation of carbon and scission of the hydrocarbon backbone (propagation), and removal of volatile carbon-containing species (material loss). In this section, studies of the initial interactions of O atoms incident on a hydrocarbon surface d40 jjj summarized. 

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