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A numerical study of three-dimensional effects on the performance of a micronozzle fabricated from at silicon wafers is performed by use of both continuum and kinetic approaches. The nozzle operates in a low-Reynoldsnumber regime, and viscous effects dominate the gas expansion. Thrust losses occur because the shear on the wall is greater in a at nozzle con guration than in an axisymmetric conical nozzle. Therefore, the prediction of the micronozzle performance based on axisymmetric or two-dimensional modeling can lead to signi cant design errors. Comparison of simulation with recent data shows good agreement in terms of thrust predictions for cold-gas thrusters at Reynolds numbers of approximately 2 £ £ 10 2 .

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