Magnetic shielding of walls from the unmagnetized ion beam in a Hall thruster

Journal Article · Mon Jan 14 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4776192· OSTI ID:22162676

Mikellides, Ioannis G.; Katz, Ira; Hofer, Richard R.; Goebel, Dan M. ^[1]

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1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109 (United States)

We demonstrate by numerical simulations and experiments that the unmagnetized ion beam formed in a Hall thruster can be controlled by an applied magnetic field in a manner that reduces by 2-3 orders of magnitude deleterious ion bombardment of the containing walls. The suppression of wall erosion in Hall thrusters to such low levels has remained elusive for decades.

• OSTI ID: 22162676
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 102, Issue 2; Other Information: (c) 2013 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
EROSION
ION BEAMS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC SHIELDING
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
PLASMA
PLASMA SIMULATION
THRUSTERS