The Hall thruster is a mature electric propulsion device that holds considerable promise in terms of the propellant saving potential. The annular design of the conventional Hall thruster, however, does not naturally scale to low power. The efficiency tends to be lower and the lifetime issues are more aggravated. Cylindrical geometry Hall thrusters have lower surface-to-volume ratio than conventional thrusters and, thus, seem to be more promising for scaling down. The cylindrical Hall thruster (CHT) is fundamentally different from the conventional design in the way the electrons are confined and the ion space charge is neutralized. The performances of both the large (9-cm channel diameter, 600–1000W) and miniaturized (2.6-cm channel diameter, 50–300W) CHTs are comparable with those of the state-of-the-art conventional (annular) design Hall thrusters of similar sizes. A comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of the CHT physics has been conducted, addressing the questions of electron cross-field transport, propellant ionization, plasma-wall interaction, and formation of the electron distribution function. Probe measurements in the harsh plasma environment of the microthruster were performed. Several interesting effects, such as the unusually high ionization efficiency and enhanced electron transport, were observed. Kinetic simulations suggest the existence of the strong fluctuation-enhanced electron diffusion and predict the non-Maxwellian shape of the electron distribution function. Through the acquired understanding of the new physics, ways for further optimization of this means for low-power space propulsion are suggested. Substantial flexibility in the magnetic field configuration of the CHT is the key tool in achieving the high-efficiency operation.

Overview of C-2 field-reversed configuration experiment plasma diagnosticsa) Rev. Sci. Instrum. 85, 11D836 (2014); 10.1063/1.4884616 Density fluctuation measurements by far-forward collective scattering in the MST reversed-field pincha) Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 10E302 (2012);A new high performance field reversed configuration operating regime in the C-2 devicea)Conventional field-reversed configurations (FRCs), high-beta, prolate compact toroids embedded in poloidal magnetic fields, face notable stability and confinement concerns. These can be ameliorated by various control techniques, such as introducing a significant fast ion population. Indeed, adding neutral beam injection into the FRC over the past half-decade has contributed to striking improvements in confinement and stability. Further, the addition of electrically biased plasma guns at the ends, magnetic end plugs, and advanced surface conditioning led to dramatic reductions in turbulence-driven losses and greatly improved stability. Together, these enabled the build-up of a well-confined and dominant fast-ion population. Under such conditions, highly reproducible, macroscopically stable hot FRCs (with total plasma temperature of $1 keV) with record lifetimes were achieved. These accomplishments point to the prospect of advanced, beam-driven FRCs as an intriguing path toward fusion reactors. This paper reviews key results and presents context for further interpretation. V C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx.

A hot stable field-reversed configuration (FRC) has been produced in the C-2 experiment by colliding and merging two high-β plasmoids preformed by the dynamic version of field-reversed θ-pinch technology. The merging process exhibits the highest poloidal flux amplification obtained in a magnetic confinement system (over tenfold increase). Most of the kinetic energy is converted into thermal energy with total temperature (T{i}+T{e}) exceeding 0.5 keV. The final FRC state exhibits a record FRC lifetime with flux confinement approaching classical values. These findings should have significant implications for fusion research and the physics of magnetic reconnection.

Conventional annular Hall thrusters become inefficient when scaled to low power. An alternative approach, a 2.6-cm miniaturized cylindrical Hall thruster with a cusp-type magnetic field distribution, was developed and studied. Its performance was compared to that of a conventional annular thruster of the same dimensions. The cylindrical thruster exhibits discharge characteristics similar to those of the annular thruster, but it has a much higher propellant ionization efficiency. Significantly, a large fraction of multicharged xenon ions might be present in the outgoing ion flux generated by the cylindrical thruster. The operation of the cylindrical thruster is quieter than that of the annular thruster. The characteristic peak in the discharge current fluctuation spectrum at 50-60 kHz appears to be due to ionization instabilities. In the power range 50-300 W, the cylindrical and annular thrusters have comparable efficiencies (15-32%) and thrusts (2.5-12 mN). For the annular configuration, a voltage less than 200 V was not sufficient to sustain the discharge at low propellant flow rates. The cylindrical thruster can operate at voltages lower than 200V, which suggests that a cylindrical thruster can be designed to operate at even smaller power. * Electronic mail: asmirnov@pppl.gov 2