Control and Improvement of a double layer ion acceleration in a magnetically expanding plasma

本文研究了双电层磁膨胀等离子体中的等离子体动力学及其在电力推进装置中的潜在应用。开发了更高效的永磁螺旋等离子体源，实现了大直径离子束的产生。此外，还首次直接测量了磁喷嘴螺旋等离子体推力器的推力，并与理论计算结果进行了比较。

Plasma dynamics in a magnetically expanding plasma including an electric double layer (DL) and its potential application to an electric propulsion device are investigated here. More efficient permanent magnet helicon plasma source is also developed and a generation of the large diameter ion beam is achieved. Further, the thrust imparted from a magnetic nozzle helicon plasma thruster is directly measured for the first time and compared with the theory.