Two-dimensional deflection of a plasma plume exhausted from a magnetically steered radiofrequency plasma thruster

Abstract

Two-dimensional steering of a magnetic nozzle in a radio frequency plasma thruster is performed by mounting four small additional solenoids in addition to a main solenoid providing the axisymmetric magnetic nozzle. The cross-sectional profile of the ion saturation current is measured by a Langmuir probe array aligned along the radial axis, which is rotated to perform the spatial scan in the cross section of the plume. The measurements show that the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal deflections of the plume can be controlled by the electric currents supplied to the four additional solenoids. Since the deflections of the magnetic nozzle and the plume can provide the thrust vector control as demonstrated in previous studies, the present result leads a two-dimensional thrust vector control in the magnetic nozzle radio frequency plasma thruster.