Direct Thrust Measurement of an Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma Thruster

Vialis, Théo; Jarrige, Julien; Packan, Denis; Aanesland, Ane

doi:10.2514/1.b37036

Cited by 46 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Table 1 details these two performance parameters, together with the measured chamber pressure. The low measured mass efficiency is an indication of a poor ionization, which is directly related to the mass-flow rate to power ratio, as it was reported in [21]. where: w e and w e⊥ are velocity components parallel (i.e.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 62%

“…It is noteworthy that the angular profiles of figure 10 do not reach the maximum current at 0 degrees, which is probably due to the fact that the antenna is located at the center line of the thruster, and influences the shape of the plasma beam. As well, the current design of the gas injection could also lead to non-homogeneities already in the plasma source, as it was pointed out by Vialis et al in [21]. There is also a residual current at 90 degrees, which increases with the mass flow rate, which suggests that it could be due to charge ex-change collisions or additional ionization due to collisions between the ambient plasma and plume electrons.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…It has an axisymmetric geometry and it is composed of a coaxial plasma source cavity of 2 A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t dimensions L s = 15 mm and R s = 13.5 mm followed by a divergent MN. 2.45 GHz electromagnetic waves are emitted by a stainless steel antenna of 0.9 mm radius placed at the thruster axis and the electron resonance condition is achieved at 875 G. Two different prototypes are tested, were the magnetic field is either generated by a solenoid (SO) or by a permanent magnet (PM) named ECR-PM-V1 in [21]. The back of the source is limited by a dielectric back plate made of boron nitride.…”

Section: Ii1 the Ecr Thruster Of Oneramentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Plasma beam characterization along the magnetic nozzle of an ECR thruster

Correyero¹,

Jarrige²,

Packan³

et al. 2019

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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Experimental characterization of plasma properties along the magnetic nozzle of an Electron Cyclotron Resonance thruster is presented here. A permanent magnet prototype and a solenoid prototype are tested, whose main difference relies on the magnetic field strength and topology. A cylindrical Langmuir probe is used to measure plasma potential, plasma density and electron temperature. In the permanent magnet thruster setup , a Laser Induced Fluorescence diagnostics is performed simultaneously with the Langmuir probe to measure the mean ion kinetic energy, and a Faraday gridded probe to characterize the angular plasma beam. An effective electron cooling rate has been identified, as well as the dependence of the total plasma potential drop with the mass flow rate. Results are compared with a supersonic collisionless fluid-kinetic 1D model where electron dynamics account for magnetic mirror effects and potential barriers, while ions are treated as a fluid cold species. The comparison allows to estimate the sonic transition of the plasma flow.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 62%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Ii1 the Ecr Thruster Of Oneramentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Plasma beam characterization along the magnetic nozzle of an ECR thruster

Correyero¹,

Jarrige²,

Packan³

et al. 2019

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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“…The direct measured thrust in this device has been reported to be hundreds of lN (both on the plasma source and on the permanent magnet). 29 It is expected that the magnetic thrust is proportional to the perpendicular plasma pressure times an "effective" area. By taking the backplate of the thruster as a reference area, 5.73 Â 10 À4 m 2 , a plasma pressure of hundreds of megapascal is obtained, which is in line with the results reported here.…”

Section: A Infinite Plasma Column Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of diamagnetism inside an ECR thruster with a diamagnetic loop

et al. 2019

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The plasma-induced magnetic field in an electron cyclotron resonance plasma thruster is measured non-intrusively by means of a diamagnetic loop that encloses the plasma flow. The calibration process is described, and parasitic currents in the thruster walls and plasma oscillations are identified as the dominant sources of uncertainty. The integrated magnetic flux is seen to depend on the applied power and less significantly on the mass flow rate. The effect of the diamagnetic loop radius is also studied by testing two loops of different diameters. To estimate the perpendicular electron pressure in the plasma from the loop measurements, two plasma beam models, 1D and 2D, are used. While both models give similar results for the small loop, they differ significantly for the large loop, showing the relevance of 2D effects when a large diamagnetic loop is used.

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“…Thrusts imparted by magnetic nozzle rf plasma thrusters have been assessed for the last decade by using thrust balances [24][25][26][27][28][29], where the thrust is the reaction force of the momentum exhausted from the system per unit time. The above-mentioned electrostatic ion acceleration does not increase the thrust due to the absences of both any external energy source and the vector conversion of the momentum [30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automatically Controlled Frequency-Tunable rf Plasma Thruster: Ion Beam and Thrust Measurements

2021

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A fast and automatically controlled frequency-tunable radiofrequency (rf) system is installed in an rf plasma thruster consisting of a stepped-diameter insulator source tube wound by a single-turn loop antenna and a solenoid providing a magnetic nozzle, and immersed in vacuum. The frequency and the output power are controlled so as to minimize the reflection coefficient and to maintain the net power corresponding to the forward minus reflected powers at a constant level. The reproducibility of the impedance matching and the stability of the net rf power are assessed, showing the fast impedance matching within about 10 msec and the long and stable delivery of the rf power to the thruster. When increasing the rf power up to 500 W, discontinuous changes in the source plasma density, the imparted thrust, and the signal intensity of the ion beam downstream of the thruster are observed, indicating effects of the discharge mode on the thruster performance and the ion energy distribution.

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Direct Thrust Measurement of an Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma Thruster

Abstract: Direct thrust measurements of an Electron Cyclotron

Cited by 46 publications

References 26 publications

Plasma beam characterization along the magnetic nozzle of an ECR thruster

Plasma beam characterization along the magnetic nozzle of an ECR thruster

Characterization of diamagnetism inside an ECR thruster with a diamagnetic loop

Automatically Controlled Frequency-Tunable rf Plasma Thruster: Ion Beam and Thrust Measurements

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