Effects of Enhanced Eathode Electron Emission on Hall Thruster Operation

Y. Raitses, A. Smirnov and N. J. Fisch

关键词: AVAILABILITY;    CATHODES;    CURRENTS;    ELECTRON EMISSION;    ELECTRONS;    INHIBITION;    INSTABILITY;    INTERACTIONS;    IONIZATION;    LEVELS;    MAGNETIC FIELDS;    OPERATION;    OSCILLATIONS;    PLASMA;    REDUCTION;    THRUSTERS;    TRANSPORT;    VOLTAGE DROP Hall Thruster;    Gas Discharges Oscillations;    Low Frequency;   

DOI  :  10.2172/953211
RP-ID  :  PPPL-4405
PID  :  OSTI ID: 953211
Others  :  TRN: US1000858

学科分类：原子、分子光学和等离子物理

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

Interesting discharge phenomena are observed that have to do with the interaction between the magnetized Hall thruster plasma and the neutralizing cathode. The steadystate parameters of a highly ionized thruster discharge are strongly influenced by the electron supply from the cathode. The enhancement of the cathode electron emission above its self-sustained level affects the discharge current and leads to a dramatic reduction of the plasma divergence and a suppression of large amplitude, low frequency discharge current oscillations usually related to an ionization instability. These effects correlate strongly with the reduction of the voltage drop in the region with the fringing magnetic field between the thruster channel and the cathode. The measured changes of the plasma properties suggest that the electron emission affects the electron cross-field transport in the thruster discharge. These trends are generalized for Hall thrusters of various configurations.