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Downloaded 16 Mar 2009 to 198.35.3.89. Redistribution subject to AIP license or copyright; see http://jap.aip.org/jap/copyright.jsp
103302-2 Granstedt, Raitses, and Fisch J. Appl. Phys. 104, 103302 共2008兲
Downloaded 16 Mar 2009 to 198.35.3.89. Redistribution subject to AIP license or copyright; see http://jap.aip.org/jap/copyright.jsp
103302-3 Granstedt, Raitses, and Fisch J. Appl. Phys. 104, 103302 共2008兲
0.25
magnetic
0.2
circuit 1.0 kG centerline
0.15
FIG. 3. 共Color online兲 Magnetic field configuration: 2.0 A back coil current,
0.1
1.0 A front coil current, and codirected for enhanced axial magnetic field.
0.05
Likewise, the minimal 共2.5 V兲 change in the floating poten- Discharge Current [A]
tial at the channel exit indicated that if electron temperature FIG. 5. 共Color online兲 Reduction in plume half-angle with increased dis-
remained approximately constant, the change in voltage drop charge current as the filament cathode heating is increased.
Downloaded 16 Mar 2009 to 198.35.3.89. Redistribution subject to AIP license or copyright; see http://jap.aip.org/jap/copyright.jsp
103302-4 Granstedt, Raitses, and Fisch J. Appl. Phys. 104, 103302 共2008兲
Variation of Current Utilization with Discharge Current and filament position Floating Potential at Channel Exit vs. Discharge Current
0.68 7
non−optimized position non−optimized position
optimized position optimized position
6.5
0.66
Vfloat [V]
6
0.64
Current Utilization: Iion/Idischarge
5.5
0.62
5
0.205 0.21 0.215 0.22 0.225 0.23 0.235 0.24
Discharge Current [A]
0.6 Cathode−Ground Voltage vs. Discharge Current
4
0.58
[V]
2
gnd
0
−V
0.56
cathode
−2
−4
V
0.54
−6
0.205 0.21 0.215 0.22 0.225 0.23 0.235 0.24 0.205 0.21 0.215 0.22 0.225 0.23 0.235 0.24
Discharge Current [A] Discharge Current [A]
FIG. 6. 共Color online兲 Change in current utilization 共I = Iion / Idischarge兲. Er- FIG. 8. 共Color online兲 Variation in floating potential at channel exit and
rorbar corresponds to the difference in ion current measured with and with- cathode coupling voltage 共gnd-cath兲 with discharge current. Floating po-
out background subtraction. tential at the channel exit decreased only very slightly relative to the 250 V
discharge voltage or 11–22 V drop across the filament. The change in the
cathode coupling voltage does not sufficiently account for the measured ion
plane, the saturated discharge current increased gradually as energy increase.
part of the wire loop approached the thruster centerline. The
saturated discharge current achieved its maximum of crossed the thruster axis suggests that optimal position of the
⬇240 mA when part of the wire loop approximately inter- cathode 共from the standpoint of a narrower plume兲 may be
sected the thruster centerline. This position of maximum determined by the insertion of electrons along magnetic field
saturated discharge current is referred to as the “optimized lines in the hybrid magnetic mirror and electrostatic trap
position” in Figs. 4–8. The thruster plume angle was also 共Figs. 1 and 3兲.
reduced a further 2° 共to 55°兲, and accompanied by an addi- The measured ion energies and plume angles at dis-
tional ⬇15 eV increase in the mean ion energy 共Figs. 5 and charge current saturation were reproducible to within 1 eV
7兲. and 1° of those presented here, even after extended operation
It is important to note that although the additional influ- with different filament wires. Over the course of several days
ence of the cathode position on the discharge characteristics of experiments, a continuous increase in the electron contri-
appeared to be qualitatively similar to what has been ob- bution to the discharge current was observed. This 15%–20%
served in annular thrusters,28,29 the magnetic field distribu- increase in discharge current is consistent with the buildup of
tion in the CHT was very different 共see Figs. 1 and 3兲. The a conductive coating on the ceramic channel walls produced
greater discharge current achieved when the cathode wire by evaporation of the tungsten wire.
The measured performance enhancement of the CHT
210
Mean Ion Energy vs. Discharge Current with increased filament heating is consistent with previous
non−optimized position measurements using the 3 cm thruster with a hollow cathode
optimized position
205
neutralizer at a higher flow rate: plume narrowing from 62°
to 50° and a shift in the peak of the IEDF ⬃30 eV to higher
200
energy.14
At high filament heater currents with the filament cross-
Mean Ion Energy [eV]
195
ing the thruster channel, the average cathode potential was
measured as high as ⬇1 V above the grounded chamber
190
walls. A virtual cathode potential dip near the cathode
filament31 provides a possible explanation for this abnormal-
185
ity. Since the thermionic emission current was generally
larger than the discharge current, a potential well due to ex-
cess electron space charge may have been present near the
180
filament to reduce the effective electron emission:
175
0.205 0.21 0.215 0.22 0.225
Discharge Current [A]
0.23 0.235 0.24 cath − min ⬇ eTc ln 冉 Iemission
Id
冊
⬇ 0.7 V.
FIG. 7. 共Color online兲 Increase in mean ion energy with discharge current as This potential dip would be adequate to place the potential
filament heating is increased. Saturated discharge current and ion energy
minimum near ground. Although negative potential wells
were increased further when the filament cathode was positioned to cross the
thruster centerline. The full width at half maximum of the IEDF is typically may be destroyed by the buildup of slow charge exchange
⬃20 eV. ions,31 in this case, the time for charge exchange ions24 to
Downloaded 16 Mar 2009 to 198.35.3.89. Redistribution subject to AIP license or copyright; see http://jap.aip.org/jap/copyright.jsp
103302-5 Granstedt, Raitses, and Fisch J. Appl. Phys. 104, 103302 共2008兲
Downloaded 16 Mar 2009 to 198.35.3.89. Redistribution subject to AIP license or copyright; see http://jap.aip.org/jap/copyright.jsp