'Bootstrap' charging of surfaces composed of multiple materials

The paper examines the charging of a checkerboard array of two materials, only one of which tends to acquire a negative potential alone, using the NASA Charging Analyzer Program (NASCAP). The influence of the charging material's field causes the otherwise 'non-charging' material to acquire a negative potential due to the suppression of its secondary emission ('bootstrap' charging). The NASCAP predictions for the equilibrium potential difference between the two materials are compared to results based on an analytical model.