Kr II laser-induced fluorescence for measuring plasma acceleration
- AFRL/RQRS, Edwards AFB, California 93524 (United States)
- ERC, Inc., Edwards AFB, California 93524 (United States)
We present the application of laser-induced fluorescence of singly ionized krypton as a diagnostic technique for quantifying the electrostatic acceleration within the discharge of a laboratory cross-field plasma accelerator also known as a Hall effect thruster, which has heritage as spacecraft propulsion. The 728.98 nm Kr II transition from the metastable 5d{sup 4}D{sub 7/2} to the 5p{sup 4}P{sub 5/2}{sup Ring-Operator} state was used for the measurement of laser-induced fluorescence within the plasma discharge. From these measurements, it is possible to measure velocity as krypton ions are accelerated from near rest to approximately 21 km/s (190 eV). Ion temperature and the ion velocity distributions may also be extracted from the fluorescence data since available hyperfine splitting data allow for the Kr II 5d{sup 4}D{sub 7/2}-5p{sup 4}P{sub 5/2}{sup Ring-Operator} transition lineshape to be modeled. From the analysis, the fluorescence lineshape appears to be a reasonable estimate for the relatively broad ion velocity distributions. However, due to an apparent overlap of the ion creation and acceleration regions within the discharge, the distributed velocity distributions increase ion temperature determination uncertainty significantly. Using the most probable ion velocity as a representative, or characteristic, measure of the ion acceleration, overall propellant energy deposition, and effective electric fields may be calculated. With this diagnostic technique, it is possible to nonintrusively characterize the ion acceleration both within the discharge and in the plume.
- OSTI ID:
- 22093777
- Journal Information:
- Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 83, Issue 10; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
DISTRIBUTION
ELECTRIC DISCHARGES
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
FLUORESCENCE
ION TEMPERATURE
KRYPTON IONS
LASER RADIATION
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
METASTABLE STATES
PLASMA ACCELERATION
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
PLASMA GUNS
THRUSTERS
VELOCITY