Experiment and analysis of the neutralization of the electron cyclotron resonance ion thruster

Jin, Yizhou; Yang, Juan; Sun, Jiayue; Liu, Xianchuang; Huang, Yan

doi:10.1088/2058-6272/aa76d9

Cited by 6 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…In all cases, the potential decreases just after the neutralizer exit and increases after the potential reaches a minimum value at approximately (z − z e0 )/R e = 0.2, forming a virtual cathode. The electron space charge limits the low-energy electron transport in the virtual cathode region, as explained in a previous experimental study [35]. As d 0 increases, the minimum potential in figure 11(b) increases.…”

Section: Neutralizer Positionsupporting

confidence: 54%

“…This study specifically seeks to understand the effect of the vacuum chamber BC and the finite background neutral density on the GIT plume, including beam ions and neutralizer electrons. In ground tests, the thruster system and neutralizer may be floated to simulate a space environment [2,7] or simply connected to the ground [10,11,35]. In the former case, the relative potential of the thruster to the chamber is determined so that the same amount of ions and electrons are emitted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, the neutralizer has non-zero potential. To emit a constant electron current, the neutralizer voltage is negatively biased relative to the thruster [35]. Also, the hollow cathode has a positively biased keeper for efficient electron emission [9], resulting in the initial electric potential for electrons that is higher than that of the ground facility of 0 V. This results in a non-zero initial potential for the electrons when emitted from the neutralizer exit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Kinetic simulation of ion thruster plume neutralization in a vacuum chamber

Nishii,

Levin

2023

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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The electrical environment of a ground vacuum testing chamber creates facility effects for gridded ion thrusters. For example, it is well known that the plume from the thruster generates current paths that are very different from what occurs in space, and the neutralization of this plume is also different. For reasons such as this, it is important to clarify how the experimental testing environment affects plasma flows, but understanding this effect solely through ground experiments is difficult. To that end, this study utilizes particle-in-cell and direct simulation Monte Carlo methods to simulate xenon beam ions and electrons emitted from a neutralizer. First, we compare simulations conducted within the chamber to those conducted in space, demonstrating that grounded chamber walls increase the electric potential and electron temperature. Next, we investigate the impact of the neutralizer’s position and the background pressure on the plume in the vacuum chamber. We find that as the neutralizer position moves closer to the location of maximum potential, more electrons are extracted, resulting in increased neutralization of the plume. We also observe that high background pressure generates slow charge-exchange ions, creating ion sheaths on the side walls that alter ion current paths. Finally, we discuss how the potential at the thruster and neutralizer exits affects the plume. The relative potential of the neutralizer to the vacuum chamber wall is observed to significantly influence the behavior of the electrons, thereby altering the degree of plume neutralization. These findings are shown to be consistent with experimental results in the literature and demonstrate the promise of high-performance simulation.

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Section: Neutralizer Positionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Kinetic simulation of ion thruster plume neutralization in a vacuum chamber

Nishii,

Levin

2023

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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“…The experimental setup is shown in figure 6, in which an optical probe is used to obtain the through the grid hole of the ion optics system of the miniaturized ion thruster, while the extraction currents are measured by a sampling resistance method. Different types of miniaturized ion thrusters are being developed by our group [31,[50][51][52] for programs of spacebased gravitational wave detection 4 . Here, we use a traditional type of miniaturized ECR ion thruster, which has a cylindrical ionization chamber (diameter 2 cm and length 1.2 cm), a ringtype microwave antenna (driving frequency 4.2 GHz), and a double-grid ion optics system (grid-gap width ∼0.3 mm).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A neural network model relating extraction current characteristics with optical emission spectra for the purpose of a digital twin of miniaturized ion thrusters

Zhang¹,

Zhu²,

Wang³

et al. 2022

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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Miniaturized ion thrusters are one of the most important candidates in the task of drag-free control for space-based gravitational wave detection, whose thrust can be accurately tuned in principle by in-orbit monitoring and feedback controlling. This work investigates a neural network model (NNM) which can be used for real-time monitoring of the function relating the grid voltage and the extraction current of a miniaturized ion thruster by optical emission spectroscopy. This model is developed as a component of an ion thruster’s digital twin. A collisional-radiative model relates the plasma parameters in the discharge chamber of the thruster to the emission spectroscopy; an extraction current model relates the plasma parameters to the function relating grid voltage and extraction current. The neural network model is trained based on the dataset produced by these models, and is examined by experimental results from a miniaturized ion thruster. It is found that the difference between the thrust predicted by the NNM and the experimental value is less than 6%. Discussions are given on further improvement of the NNM for accurate thrust control in space-based gravitational wave detection in the future.

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“…Due to the high specific impulse and durability, it becomes a promising thruster for space applications including orbital transfer, attitude control and deep space travel, etc [5]. A typical ECRT consists of four parts: microwave source, magnet, resonance cavity and acceleration grid [6,7], as depicted in figure 1. The magnet is critical to generate plasma and confine the formed plasma thereafter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the heating mechanism of electron cyclotron resonance thruster immerged in a non-uniform magnetic field

Yuan

Chang

Yang

et al. 2020

Plasma Sci. Technol.

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To study the heating mechanism of electron cyclotron resonance thruster (ECRT) immersed in a non-uniform magnetic field, experiments and simulations are performed based on an electron cyclotron resonance plasma source at ASIPP. It is found that the first harmonic of electron cyclotron resonance is essential for plasma ignition at high magnetic field (0.0875 T), while the plasma can sustain without the first and second harmonics of electron cyclotron resonance at low magnetic field (till 0.0170 T). Evidence of radial hollow density profile indicates that upper hybrid resonance, which has strong edge heating effect, is the heating mechanism of low-field ECRT. The heating mode transition from electron cyclotron resonance to upper hybrid resonance is also revealed. Interestingly, the evolutions of electron temperature and electron density with input power experience a 'delayed' jump, which may be correlated with the different power levels required for cyclotron and ionization. Moreover, when the field strength decreased, the variation of electron density behaves in an opposite trend with that of electron temperature, implying a possible competition of power deposition between them. The present work is of great interest for understanding the plasma discharge in ECRT especially immersed in a non-uniform magnetic field, and designing efficient ECRT using low magnetic field for economic space applications.

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Experiment and analysis of the neutralization of the electron cyclotron resonance ion thruster

Cited by 6 publications

References 26 publications

Kinetic simulation of ion thruster plume neutralization in a vacuum chamber

Kinetic simulation of ion thruster plume neutralization in a vacuum chamber

A neural network model relating extraction current characteristics with optical emission spectra for the purpose of a digital twin of miniaturized ion thrusters

On the heating mechanism of electron cyclotron resonance thruster immerged in a non-uniform magnetic field

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