Effect of magnetic field configuration on the multiply charged ion and plume characteristics in Hall thruster plasmas

Journal Article · Mon Apr 13 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4918654· OSTI ID:22398915

Kim, Holak; Lim, Youbong; Choe, Wonho; Park, Sanghoo ^[1]; Seon, Jongho ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701 (Korea, Republic of)
2. Department of Astronomy and Space Science, Kyung Hee University 1732 Deokyoungdaero, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 446-701 (Korea, Republic of)

Multiply charged ions and plume characteristics in Hall thruster plasmas are investigated with regard to magnetic field configuration. Differences in the plume shape and the fraction of ions with different charge states are demonstrated by the counter-current and co-current magnetic field configurations, respectively. The significantly larger number of multiply charged and higher charge state ions including Xe{sup 4+} are observed in the co-current configuration than in the counter-current configuration. The large fraction of multiply charged ions and high ion currents in this experiment may be related to the strong electron confinement, which is due to the strong magnetic mirror effect in the co-current magnetic field configuration.

• OSTI ID: 22398915
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 15; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
CHARGE STATES
COUNTER CURRENT
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELECTRONS
HALL EFFECT
MAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATIONS
MAGNETIC MIRRORS
MULTICHARGED IONS
PLASMA
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
THRUSTERS
XENON IONS