Abstract
The assembly of the satellites in clean rooms is currently monitored, in order to guarantee their reliability, via optical counters of particles which indicate the quantity of particles per volume of air in the room. However, why measure the quantity of particles in the air whereas it is the cleanliness of surfaces which is important? The complexity of the phenomena of transport and sedimentation of the particles makes the simulation, the prediction or the prevention of these phenomena particularly difficult. The objective of this thesis, which proceeded at the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), is to propose a method of measurement of the local and surface particulate contamination. Two axes are privileged to this end. Initially, an evaluation of the phenomena of contamination and existing methods of measurement are proposed by approaching space field specificities. The theoretical and experimental studies gathered in this memory and the assessment of the remaining interrogations trace a clear portrait of the state of current knowledge in this field. This state of the art brings to the definition of a need for the first time clearly expressed. A review of the metrological methods being based on this preliminary evaluation makes it possible to study with precision the possibilities of development of a sensor. Finally, this thesis shows that the goal of active and real-time measurement of particles of 1 µm is achieved with a method of optical detection by transmission of the light signal. In the second place, this thesis attempts to describe the characteristics of the sensor whose specifications were studied and specified in first part. If the development of the sensor is still at the initial stage, the prospects for industrial valorization are clearly established. This memory is thus based on a background research on the theory of the particulate contamination and the physical phenomena of interaction between the particles and their environment to define a method of optical measurement reliable, validated by simulation, and being the object of a patent filling.