Electrostatic acceleration of helicon plasma using a cusped magnetic field
Electrostatic acceleration of helicon plasma using a cusped magnetic field
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DOI：
10.1063/1.4900423
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发表时间：
2014-11
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
S. Harada;T. Baba;A. Uchigashima;Shigeru Yokota;A. Iwakawa;A. Sasoh;Yamazaki Takuya;H. Shimizu
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
S. Harada;T. Baba;A. Uchigashima;Shigeru Yokota;A. Iwakawa;A. Sasoh;Yamazaki Takuya;H. Shimizu
利用螺旋源出口处的环阳极与下游的离轴空心阴极之间的静电势，研究了螺旋管等离子体的静电加速。在下游区域，螺线管源的磁场由螺线管线圈产生，使用永磁体和磁轭进行修改，形成由环形尖点磁场包围的几乎无磁场的区域。利用延迟势分析仪，在无场区探测到两个初级离子能量峰，其中较低的峰对应于空间势，较高的峰对应于离子束。以氩为工作气体，螺旋管功率1.5kW，质量流量0.21 mg/S，束流能量约为外加加速电压的数量级。特别是，当加速电压低于150V时，离子束能量甚至比施加的加速电压高出一个数量级，大约是螺旋等离子体源出口处的电子热能。离子束能量分布强烈地依赖于螺旋管功率和外加加速电压。由于这种方法原则上可以加速螺旋面等离子体源的全部工作气体，因此该装置可以作为空间推进的高贵静电推进器。
The electrostatic acceleration of helicon plasma is investigated using an electrostatic potential exerted between the ring anode at the helicon source exit and an off-axis hollow cathode in the downstream region. In the downstream region, the magnetic field for the helicon source, which is generated by a solenoid coil, is modified using permanent magnets and a yoke, forming an almost magnetic field-free region surrounded by an annular cusp field. Using a retarding potential analyzer, two primary ion energy peaks, where the lower peak corresponds to the space potential and the higher one to the ion beam, are detected in the field-free region. Using argon as the working gas with a helicon power of 1.5 kW and a mass flow rate of 0.21 mg/s, the ion beam energy is on the order of the applied acceleration voltage. In particular, with an acceleration voltage lower than 150 V, the ion beam energy even exceeds the applied acceleration voltage by an amount on the order of the electron thermal energy at the exit of the helicon plasma source. The ion beam energy profile strongly depends on the helicon power and the applied acceleration voltage. Since by this method the whole working gas from the helicon plasma source can, in principle, be accelerated, this device can be applied as a noble electrostatic thruster for space propulsion.