Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation of a miniature plasma source for a microwave discharge ion thruster
Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation of a miniature plasma source for a microwave discharge ion thruster
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DOI：
10.1088/0963-0252/23/6/064004
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发表时间：
2014-12
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Y. Takao;H. Koizumi;K. Komurasaki;K. Eriguchi;K. Ono
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Y. Takao;H. Koizumi;K. Komurasaki;K. Eriguchi;K. Ono
我们建立了一个小型微波放电离子推进器的三维粒子模型，以解释受限于小空间的ECR放电机理。该模型包括带电粒子动力学的粒子碰撞蒙特卡罗模拟(PIC-MCC)、4.2 GHz微波电磁场的时域有限差分方法和永磁体静磁场的有限元分析。PIC-MCC结果表明，由于镜面磁场的作用，电子被很好地限制，并且可以在环形天线下游的ECR层中被有效地加热。这种限制导致沿天线的等离子体密度呈环状分布。工作中的推进器等离子体放电的视觉外观也是环形的。此外，离子有望有效地通过栅极加速，而不会有大量离子流失到侧壁，也就是说，这里开发的等离子体源将是离子推进器所需要的。
We have developed a three-dimensional particle model for a miniature microwave discharge ion thruster to elucidate the mechanism of ECR discharges confined in a small space. The model consists of a particle-in-cell simulation with a Monte Carlo collision algorithm (PIC-MCC) for the kinetics of charged particles, a finite-difference time-domain method for the electromagnetic fields of 4.2 GHz microwaves, and a finite element analysis for the magnetostatic fields of permanent magnets. The PIC-MCC results have shown that the electrons are well confined owing to the mirror magnetic fields and can be effectively heated in the ECR layer downstream of a ring-shaped antenna. The confinement results in the ring-shaped profiles of the plasma density along the antenna. The visual appearance of the plasma discharge of the thruster in operation was also ring-shaped. Moreover, the ions are expected to be accelerated effectively through the grid electrode without a large loss of ions toward side walls, that is, the plasma source developed here would be desirable in ion thrusters.