The resonance between the electromagnetic field and electrons in the helicon plasma source of a magnetoplasma rocket engine

Frontiers in Physics

Physics

Xianwei Han¹  Wei Fan¹  Chang Tan¹  Zhenyu Yang² 

[1] Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Plasma Physics and Applied Technology, Xi’an, China;null;

关键词: magnetoplasma rocket engine;    helicon plasma source;    mode conversion;    power deposition;    fluid simulation;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fphy.2023.1182960

 received in 2023-03-09, accepted in 2023-07-11,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The helicon plasma source is of great significance for the magnetoplasma rocket engine (MPRE) to be used as an effective propulsion device. In this paper, a multi-fluid, two-dimensional, axisymmetric model coupled with the electromagnetic field was developed to simulate the helicon plasma source in the MPRE. The simulation results demonstrate that the operation mode of the helicon plasma source in the MPRE gradually converts to a high-order wave mode and the resonance between the electromagnetic field and electrons is observed; due to the resonance, the deposit power density inside the plasma increases significantly, and the plasma density is two orders of magnitude higher than that in the inductively coupled plasma source. As the magnetic field intensity increases, the helicon plasma source enters into a high-order wave mode, which suggests that the MPRE can improve the utilization rate of the working medium by a stronger magnetic field.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Yang, Fan, Han and Tan.