A fully automated Langmuir probe system capable of operating simultaneously with beam extraction has been developed and commissioned for the negative hydrogen ion source testbeds at IPP Garching. It allows the measurement of temporal and spatial distributions of the plasma parameters within a single plasma pulse (<5 s). This system can operate even in the presence of multi-harmonic RF interference due to a novel transformer-based RF compensation system. Analysis methods of the probe data are described in the paper along with a discussion of errors. Measurements of the plasma parameters for RF powers (30-80 kW) and source pressures (0.3-0.8 Pa) both in plasma generation region and near the plasma grid have been carried out. The plasma generation region has both a high density (>10 18 m −3 ) and hot (T e > 10 eV) plasma with bi-Maxwellian electron energy distribution at low pressures. The plasma found near the plasma grid is very different being of low density ( 10 17 m −3 ) and very cold (T e < 2 eV). This plasma is also strongly influenced by the presence of caesium, the potential of the plasma grid, and if an ion beam is extracted from the source. Caesium strongly reduces the plasma potential of the source and enhances the negative ion density near the plasma grid. Extracting an ion beam is observed to reduce the electron density and increase the potential near the plasma grid. Applying a potential greater than the plasma potential to the plasma grid is found to significantly decrease the electron density near the plasma grid.

Propulsion is a critical subsystem of many spacecraft1–4. For efficient propellant usage, electric propulsion systems based on the electrostatic acceleration of ions formed during electron impact ionization of a gas are particularly attractive5,6. At present, xenon is used almost exclusively as an ionizable propellant for space propulsion2–5. However, xenon is rare, it must be stored under high pressure and commercial production is expensive7–9. Here we demonstrate a propulsion system that uses iodine propellant and we present in-orbit results of this new technology. Diatomic iodine is stored as a solid and sublimated at low temperatures. A plasma is then produced with a radio-frequency inductive antenna, and we show that the ionization efficiency is enhanced compared with xenon. Both atomic and molecular iodine ions are accelerated by high-voltage grids to generate thrust, and a highly collimated beam can be produced with substantial iodine dissociation. The propulsion system has been successfully operated in space onboard a small satellite with manoeuvres confirmed using satellite tracking data. We anticipate that these results will accelerate the adoption of alternative propellants within the space industry and demonstrate the potential of iodine for a wide range of space missions. For example, iodine enables substantial system miniaturization and simplification, which provides small satellites and satellite constellations with new capabilities for deployment, collision avoidance, end-of-life disposal and space exploration10–14.

The results of investigations on the simultaneous extraction of positive ions and electrons from a single-grid ICP source are reported. It is shown that the single-grid ion source is capable of generating coincident ion and electron flows in contrast to the more common two- or three-grid sources. Electron and ion emission characteristics of the source are presented for the cases of DC and RF acceleration bias. A method of ion/electron current ratio control is proposed allowing to change the current compensation state of the ion beam from non-compensated to highly over-compensated. The researches were conducted in the ion energy range 10–250 eV with a high ion current density of 5 mA/cm2, so the presented results may be useful for modern technology applications.

The present research is devoted to the problem of extraction grid choice for a single-grid source of bipolar ion-electron flow. The paper contains detailed reference information on ion and electron extraction characteristics of 10 different grids with broad range of parameters: aperture width (0.09-0.6 mm), grid transparency (0.19-0.51), thickness (0.036-0.5 mm), and with different aperture geometry. The grids with square, circular, and slit apertures were made with different technologies: laser cutting, welding, weaving, and electrolytic erosion. The general regularities of the ion and electron extraction from the single-grid source are experimentally researched for the cases of dc and RF extraction grid biasing. A conclusion has been made that the maximum extracted ion current at low ion energy (0-200 eV) does not significantly vary for all the grids and does not exceed half of the primary ion current from plasma multiplied by the optical grid transparency. The low-energy limit of efficient ion extraction has been discovered which cannot be overcome by the aperture narrowing. A conclusion is made that the RF extraction mode is superior for all the researched grids since it is characterized by higher extracted ion current at any acceleration voltage for any grid with much more simple and smooth extraction curves behavior in comparison to the dc case as well as absence of arcing, jumps, and hysteresis of the measured curves at any RF voltages. The unique ability of the RF biased single-grid source of simultaneous ion∕electron emission has been studied. The measured maximal attainable ion beam current compensation ratio is always sufficiently higher than 1 and typically varies in the range 2-6. The results obtained in the present paper demonstrate prospective of the single-grid source in space thruster applications and in modern technologies, particularly for ion beam processing of wide bandgap semiconductor devices such as GaN and SiC transistors due to inherent precise beam neutralization.

This paper presents the development of a magnetized retarding field energy analyzer (MRFEA) used for positive and negative ion analysis. The two-stage analyzer combines a magnetic electron barrier and an electrostatic ion energy barrier allowing both positive and negative ions to be analyzed without the influence of electrons (co-extracted or created downstream). An optimal design of the MRFEA for ion-ion beams has been achieved by a comparative study of three different MRFEA configurations, and from this, scaling laws of an optimal magnetic field strength and topology have been deduced. The optimal design consists of a uniform magnetic field barrier created in a rectangular channel and an electrostatic barrier consisting of a single grid and a collector placed behind the magnetic field. The magnetic barrier alone provides an electron suppression ratio inside the analyzer of up to 6000, while keeping the ion energy resolution below 5 eV. The effective ion transparency combining the magnetic and electrostatic sections of the MRFEA is measured as a function of the ion energy. It is found that the ion transparency of the magnetic barrier increases almost linearly with increasing ion energy in the low-energy range (below 200 eV) and saturates at high ion energies. The ion transparency of the electrostatic section is almost constant and close to the optical transparency of the entrance grid. We show here that the MRFEA can provide both accurate ion flux and ion energy distribution measurements in various experimental setups with ion beams or plasmas run at low pressure and with ion energies above 10 eV.