Space Charge Saturated Sheath Regime and Electron Temperature Saturation in Hall Thrusters.

Raitses, Y. ; Staack, D. ; Smirnov, A. ; Fisch, N. J.

Technical Information Center Oak Ridge Tennessee

关键词: Electron emission;    Electron temperature;    Thrusters;    Electrons;    Joule heating;   

RP-ID  :  DE2005837855

学科分类：工程和技术（综合）

美国|英语

来源: National Technical Reports Library

【 摘 要 】

Secondary electron emission in Hall thrusters is predicted to lead to space charge saturated wall sheaths resulting in enhanced power losses in the thruster channel. Analysis of experimentally obtained electron-wall collision frequency suggests that the electron temperature saturation, which occurs at high discharge voltages, appears to be caused by a decrease of the Joule heating rather than by the enhancement of the electron energy loss at the walls due to a strong secondary electron emission.