Miniature ion thruster ring-cusp discharge performance and behavior
Miniature ion thruster ring-cusp discharge performance and behavior
复制标题
微型离子推进器环尖放电性能和行为
DOI：
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发表时间：
2017
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
R. Wirz
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ben Dankongkakul;R. Wirz
微型离子推进器由于其低功率水平和高比冲而成为广泛空间任务的一个有吸引力的选择。使用环尖等离子体放电的推力器有望获得最高性能，但仍然受到有效维持如此小尺度（通常为直径1-3厘米）等离子体放电的挑战的限制。通过比较3环、4环和5环尖端氙气等离子体的性能和约束行为，利用3厘米的微型氙气离子推力器作为可修改的平台，这一努力显著推进了对小型等离子体放电的理解。通过测量和比较放电过程中等离子体和电子的能量分布图，我们发现微型环尖等离子体的行为主要受尖磁场的影响；这可能导致高能初级电子对阳极壁的高损失率。然而，通过施加轴向磁约束，表明初级电子约束得到了显着改善。
Miniature ion thrusters are an attractive option for a wide range of space missions due to their low power levels and high specific impulse. Thrusters using ring-cusp plasma discharges promise the highest performance, but are still limited by the challenges of efficiently maintaining a plasma discharge at such small scales (typically 1–3 cm diameter). This effort significantly advances the understanding of miniature-scale plasma discharges by comparing the performance and xenon plasma confinement behavior for 3-ring, 4-ring, and 5-ring cusp by using the 3 cm Miniature Xenon Ion thruster as a modifiable platform. By measuring and comparing the plasma and electron energy distribution maps throughout the discharge, we find that miniature ring-cusp plasma behavior is dominated by the high magnetic fields from the cusps; this can lead to high loss rates of high-energy primary electrons to the anode walls. However, the primary electron confinement was shown to considerably improve by imposing an axial magnetic ...