Evaluation of ion current density distribution on an extraction electrode of a radio frequency ion thruster

Abstract

The radial distributions of ion current density on an ion extracting electrode of a radio frequency (RF) ion thruster (RIT) with an inductive plasma source were obtained using probe diagnostics of the RF xenon plasma. Measurements were carried out using a plane wall probe simulator and the VGPS-12 Probe System of Plasma Sensors Co. At xenon flow rate q = 2 sccm plasma pressure was 2 · 10−3 Torr, incident RF generator power varied in the range Pg = 50−250 W with RF power absorbed by plasma up to Pp = 220 W. Ion current densities were determined using semi- and double-logarithmic probe characteristics by linear extrapolations of their ion branches to probe floating potentials. The same parameters were also measured in undisturbed plasma by a classic cylindrical probe. They exceeded plane probe data by more than two times, showing the effectiveness of plasma sheath reproduction of the RIT ion extracting electrode by the plane wall probe simulator. Slight non-uniformity of the resulting plasma distributions and simplified RIT model design showed that the studied device with flat antenna coil and ferrite core could be considered as a promising prospect for RITs of new generation.