Technology of Electron-Bombardment Ion Thrusters

Increased capabilities of the 30-cm diameter Hg ion thruster

“…Higher cathode temperatures, expected at higher values of emission current, can probably be reduced with modest increases in the cathode orifice diameter as suggested in Ref. 16. Thruster Performance Table 3 shows the performance, obtained in this study, for thrusters operated with three grid optics.…”

Ion source design for industrial applications

“…More complete descriptions of the discharge chamber plasma are [3][4] available~but a short description is included here for convenience.…”

A 30-cm diameter argon ion source

“…Cathode erosion raves may be adequately correlated with discharge current level and cathode orifice diameter. (10,12) It was desired to obtain a cathode that exhibited the following: case of starting, low thermal loading due to die.. charge self heating, stability during a high voltage 4ecycle and an acceptable V-I characteristic for discharge currents from 10 to 25 A. Figure 8 illustrates the variation of discharge voltage with discharge chamber magnetic field strength for cathodes with orifice diameters' of 0.75 and 1.52 mm.…”

“…Further gains in ion beam uniformity might be made by magnetic circuit optimization along wrath Yon optics correctives grid misalinement. (7,10) Conclusions Ion optics, cathodes and neutralizers for a 30 cm diameter argon ion source were evaluated. Significant tent results are as follows:…”