A particle simulation based source model is developed to calculate the density distribution of the sputtered Mo atoms for a whole ion optics grid. The source model is used in PIC simulation of ion thruster plume contamination for 3-grid and 2-grid ion thrusters. The results show that the commonly used point-source approximation for sputtered Mo atoms is oversimplified and would lead to over-prediction of contamination deposition.
Ion/ion instabilities are driven by the relative velocity Vo of two distinct ion components. This manuscript reports linear theory and simulation studies of electro‐magnetic ion/ion instabilities for a warm proton component streaming against a cool, heavy ion component in a homogeneous, magnetized, collisionless plasma in which Vo is parallel or antiparallel to the background magnetic field. Under these conditions linear Vlasov dispersion theory predicts that the fastest growing mode is usually the right‐hand polarized proton resonant instability. Two‐dimensional initial value hybrid simulations of this growing mode are carried out, yielding scaling relations for the maximum fluctuating magnetic field energy density and the proton pickup time. The latter is proportional to the inverse of the maximum growth rate for a wide range of plasma parameters.
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