Keeper Ignition and Discharge Characteristics of Hollow Cathode Center-Mounted on Hall Thruster

Abstract

This Paper explores keeper ignition and discharge characteristic of a hollow cathode center mounted on a Hall thruster to discuss the optimum startup sequence. A strong magnetic field along the hollow cathode in the center-mount configuration is considered to play an important role in the ignition and discharge; however, the characteristics in this configuration has never been reported. The effect of cathode mass flow rate on the ignition and discharge with 3 A keeper ignition is examined both with and without magnetic field. The influence of cathode heater power and flow from the anode is also investigated. The lower flow rate causes strong ionization instability, while the higher flow rate seems to induce ion acoustic turbulence. Applied magnetic field improves the ionization instability due to the decrease in electron temperature through plasma production. These results indicate ignition sequences over flow rate with magnetic field appear promising. On the other hand, the confined electrons around the magnetic field line prevent the initiation of the discharge. The ignition and instability are improved with high heat-up power because more thermionic emission is obtained. The anode flow provides slight improvement to the characteristics. The Fourier transform also demonstrates the presence of ionization instability and ion acoustic turbulence. The behavior of peak frequencies of ionization instability can be explained based on the predator–prey theory.