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A passive thermal control blanket and a method for its manufacture, the blanket including a plastic substrate on which is deposited a film that is a homogeneous mixture of silicon and germanium, thereby combining the excellent reflective and electrostatic discharge properties of germanium with the s

A passive thermal control blanket and a method for its manufacture, the blanket including a plastic substrate on which is deposited a film that is a homogeneous mixture of silicon and germanium, thereby combining the excellent reflective and electrostatic discharge properties of germanium with the superior adhesion and corrosion resistance properties of silicon. The uniform mixture is preferably obtained by sputtering the two materials simultaneously onto the substrate, using either separate targets, a single mosaic target, or a single composite target.

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The invention claimed is: 1. A passive thermal control blanket, comprising: a plastic substrate; and a coating on the substrate, wherein the coating is a homogeneous mixture consisting of silicon and germanium formulated to combine desirable properties of both materials, and wherein the coating pro

The invention claimed is: 1. A passive thermal control blanket, comprising: a plastic substrate; and a coating on the substrate, wherein the coating is a homogeneous mixture consisting of silicon and germanium formulated to combine desirable properties of both materials, and wherein the coating provides the blanket selected emittive characteristics to radiate infrared energy and reflective characteristics for visible light, and wherein the coating on the substrate includes approximately 5-20% by weight of silicon mixed with germanium. 2. The passive thermal control blanket of claim 1, wherein the coating is formed on the substrate by a vacuum deposition process. 3. A method for manufacturing a thermal control blanket, the method comprising: taking a plastic substrate; depositing on the substrate a film that is a homogeneous mixture consisting of silicon and germanium, wherein the mixture is formulated to combine advantageous properties of silicon and germanium, and wherein the coating on the substrate includes approximately 5-20% by weight of silicon mixed with germanium. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the depositing step comprises sputtering the mixture of silicon and germanium onto the substrate. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the sputtering step comprises co-sputtering from separate silicon and germanium targets. 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the sputtering step comprises sputtering from a mosaic target having separate silicon and germanium tiles. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the mosaic target is circular and the tiles are radial slices. 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the mosaic target is rectangular and the tiles are rectangular. 9. The method of claim 4, wherein the sputtering step results in formation of the film that contains approximately 5-20% by weight of silicon mixed with germanium.