Effect of vacuum backpressure on discharge characteristics of hollow cathode

Ning, Zhiliang; Chu, Yanfeng; Liu, Xiaoyu; Li, Fan; Zhu, Xi-Ming; Yu, Daren

doi:10.1088/2058-6272/ab4364

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Even though this orifice diameter seems oversized, it allows a discharge current up to 165 6 A to be sustained at the nominal mass flow rate of the cathode (0.4 mg s −1 of Xe) [14]. Many studies on HT have been conducted with such a cathode as illustrated by the published works of several research teams [14,19,15,16,17].…”

Section: Cathode Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though one of first cathode designs that was used with closed 70 drift thrusters in the early 1970-1980s is based on a flat disk shape for the electron emitter [12], such a shape is rarely studied in the literature. The majority of published works with a flat disk shape for the electron emitter is dedicated to cathodes coupled with Hall thrusters [13,14,15,16,17]. To the best of the authors' knowledge only the works published by the group of L.B.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Examination of a 5 A-class cathode with a LaB6 flat disk emitter in the 2 A–20 A current range

Joussot

Grimaud

Mazouffre

2017

Vacuum

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Section: Cathode Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examination of a 5 A-class cathode with a LaB6 flat disk emitter in the 2 A–20 A current range

Joussot

Grimaud

Mazouffre

2017

Vacuum

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“…The rapid decrease in the pumping speed of the diffusion pumps resulted in a vacuum of only 2×10 −2 Pa after dozens of hours of pumping and a vacuum of up to 1.5×10 −1 Pa when the iodine flowed into the chamber. Such a vacuum high backpressure brings difficulty to the operation and stability of the hollow cathode [17]. Ground experiments with iodine electric propulsion have always been a thorny issue, and so far there are no particularly effective protective measures to reduce the damage from iodine to the vacuum system.…”

Section: Testing Facilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Early experimental investigation of the C12A7 hollow cathode fed on iodine

Hua

Wang

Ning

et al. 2022

Plasma Sci. Technol.

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To fully realize the superiority of the iodine electric propulsion system in streamlining the size and reducing the operating cost, iodine hollow cathode technology must be developed. Considering the corrosiveness of iodine and the possible impurity of working propellant, the C12A7 hollow cathode with promising chemical ability was developed and tested. The C12A7 hollow cathode with a nominal current of 1-4 A was successfully ignited with iodine from the reservoir outside the vacuum chamber. It was operated at 1 A of anode current with a 1.2 mg/s iodine mass flow rate. Despite involuntary extinguishment, the C12A7 hollow cathode could be restarted repeatedly with a single operation time of up to twelve minutes and a total duration of half an hour. The unexpected fluctuation of iodine flow may be the reason for the short operation time. Experimental results and microscopical observation of the electride emitter show the compatibility of the iodine and electride emitter. For the development and demonstration of future single iodine electric propulsion of Hall thrusters, the iodine storage and supply system with precise control and regulation may be the critical technology.

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The effect of facility background pressure on hollow cathode operation

Hall

Gray

Yim

et al. 2021

Journal of Applied Physics

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The effect of facility background pressure on the operation of a hollow cathode in a Hall thruster-like axial magnetic field is experimentally characterized. Facility pressure was varied between 10 and 88 μTorr-Xe using a secondary flow of xenon into the test facility, and cathode operation was studied using a combination of telemetry and plasma diagnostic measurements. Increasing pressure resulted in decreased discharge voltage, cathode orifice plate temperature, and voltage and current oscillation magnitudes. The plasma diagnostics, which consisted of a radially mounted retarding potential analyzer and an ion saturation probe and emissive probe mounted to a fast reciprocating motion stage, showed that increasing pressure resulted in decreased radial high-energy ions, decreased centerline maximum plasma potential and electron temperature, and increased plasma density farther than 40 mm downstream of the cathode. The effects of background pressure on the cathode plume were largely constrained to between 50 and 100 mm downstream of the cathode, where the largest gradients of plasma potential and electron temperature occur. Experimental measurements were combined with neutral density simulations to identify that the confluence of changes in electron temperature, plasma density, and neutral density result in an increase of almost an order of magnitude in the calculated ionization rate in the same location. These results have implications for both standalone cathode tests and for improving the understanding of facility effects on cathode coupling in Hall thrusters.

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Effect of vacuum backpressure on discharge characteristics of hollow cathode

Cited by 4 publications

References 48 publications

Examination of a 5 A-class cathode with a LaB6 flat disk emitter in the 2 A–20 A current range

Examination of a 5 A-class cathode with a LaB6 flat disk emitter in the 2 A–20 A current range

Early experimental investigation of the C12A7 hollow cathode fed on iodine

The effect of facility background pressure on hollow cathode operation

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