Molecular contamination from organic materials can lead to the performance degradation of sensitive optical devices on the spacecraft. Space ultraviolet (UV) radiation may influence the contamination effect, but relative research is non-sufficient. In this paper, experimental research of UV radiation enhancement effect on molecular contamination of sensitive optical device is implemented. The experimental system is designed based on the ASTM E1559 standard, in which the outgassing stage or deposition stage is under UV radiation, and UV enhancement effect under different contamination source and heating and deposition temperature are obtained. It is discovered that UV radiation results in obvious enhancement effect on the outgassing and deposition stage. When the outgassing stage is radiated by UV, in the heating temperature between 100~150℃, the contamination mass of silicone rubber is increased by 158%~677%, and that of cable insulation is increased by 51%~86%. When the contamination deposition stage is radiated by UV and the deposition temperature is between 5~70℃, the deposition of silicone rubber is increased by 1.16~1.91times, and that of cable insulation is increased by 1.48~8.82 because of UV radiation. In addition, the transmissivity of glass specimens with and without UV radiation are tested, and the morphology of contaminants deposited on the glass specimens are observed, which also indicate that UV radiation leads to the deterioration of the contamination effect. The research reveals the enhancement effect of molecular contamination process by UV radiation quantitatively, which can provide better theoretical support for contamination control of sensitive optical devices on spacecrafts.
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