Multichannel source of synthesized ion-electron flow

Bizioukov, A.A.; Kashaba, A. Y.; Sereda, K. N.; Tseluyko, A. Ph.; Yunakov, N. N.

doi:10.1063/1.1147548

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Generally, this leads to exclusion of neutralizer from the system, formation of the well localized plume in space, decrease of the induced charges, suppression of the different kind of power and efficiency losses in thruster and subsystems etc. A few devices propose the coincident extraction and acceleration of positive ions and electrons [1][2][3][4][5][6] or negative ions 7,8 . Different drawbacks of these thruster concepts like low efficiency, special propellant requirements, power limitations, etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neutralizer-free gridded ion thruster

Rafalskyi¹,

Aanesland²

2014

50th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

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The first proof-of-concept of a neutralizer-free gridded thruster called NEPTUNE which emits simultaneously ions and electrons producing thrust and high Isp is presented. The NEPTUNE prototype is built and tested in a 1m long beam propagation chamber. A broad quasi-neutral ion-electron beam with the ion energy up to 400 eV is successfully generated without the use of a neutralizer. This is achieved by the possibility of an efficient DC self-bias generation within the RF-powered multi-grid extraction system, which is in contact with plasma. A single RF power source is used for the gas ionization, ion acceleration and electron extraction; the NEPTUNE thruster prototype is therefore free of any additional DC power supplies. The beam extraction is investigated by measuring the ion and electron energies, fluxes and densities using a retarding field energy analyzer (RFEA) and different electrostatic probes. Comparison of the main beam parameters and efficiencies of the NEPTUNE source with a traditional gridded source equipped with a neutralizer is presented. It is concluded that the NEPTUNE concept allows generating a well-localized selfcompensated broad ion-electron beam with same thrust efficiency as traditional gridded ion thrusters.Nomenclature e 0 = electron charge n e = plasma density M i = ion mass m e = electron mass V DC = direct current (DC) voltage V RF = radio frequency (RF) voltage j i = ion current density I tgt = target current U tgt = target voltage ε 0 = vacuum permittivity ω = frequency of RF generator ω pe = electron plasma frequency ω pi = ion plasma frequency

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neutralizer-free gridded ion thruster

Rafalskyi¹,

Aanesland²

2014

50th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

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“…Simultaneous emission of oppositely charged particles from a single source [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] may provide several advantages in space. The additional neutralizer is then redundant, reducing the corresponding power and efficiency losses in the thruster and subsystems etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Though these concepts provide in principle long-life neutralizer-free operation, the achievable performance such as specific impulse and thrust efficiency are generally lower than the performances provided by the traditional electric propulsion concepts (ion-and Hall-thrusters) [7,9,12,13]. Concepts based on simultaneous extraction of positive ions and electrons [4][5][6][7][8][9] or positive and negative ions [10,11] accelerated via biased grids may also provide a quasi-neutral beam. One advantage of these systems is the similarity with space proven gridded thrusters allowing technology heritage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coincident ion acceleration and electron extraction for space propulsion using the self-bias formed on a set of RF biased grids bounding a plasma source

Rafalskyi¹,

Aanesland²

2014

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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We propose an alternative method to accelerate ions in classical gridded ion thrusters and ion sources such that co-extracted electrons from the source may provide beam space charge neutralization. In this way there is no need for an additional electron neutralizer. The method consists of applying RF voltage to a two-grid acceleration system via a blocking capacitor. Due to the unequal effective area of the two grids in contact with the plasma, a DC self-bias is formed, rectifying the applied RF voltage. As a result, ions are continuously accelerated within the grid system while electrons are emitted in brief instants within the RF period when the RF space charge sheath collapses. This paper presents the first experimental results and a proof-ofprinciple. Experiments are carried out using the Neptune thruster prototype which is a gridded Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) source operated at 4 MHz, attached to a larger beam propagation chamber. The RF power supply is used both for the ICP discharge (plasma generation) and powering the acceleration grids via a capacitor for ion acceleration and electron extraction without any DC power supplies. The ion and electron energies, particle flux and densities are measured using retarding field energy analyzers (RFEA), Langmuir probes and a large beam target. The system is operating in Argon and N 2. The DC self-bias is found to be generated within the gridded extraction system in all the range of operating conditions. Broad quasi-neutral ion-electron beams are measured in the downstream chamber with energies up to 400 eV. The beams from the RF acceleration method are compared with classical DC acceleration with an additional external electron neutralizer. It is found that the two acceleration techniques provide similar performance, but the ion energy distribution function from RF acceleration is broader while the floating potential of the beam is lower than for the DC accelerated beam.

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A double-plasma source of continuous bipolar ion-ion beam

Dudin

Rafalskyi

2013

Applied Physics Letters

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International audienceA double-plasma source capable of the generation of a continuous bipolar ion-ion beam is described. The quasi-neutral ion-ion flow to an extraction electrode is formed in the system containing primary inductively coupled plasma separated from a secondary plasma by an electrostatic grid-type filter. The total current of each ion species to the 250 mm diameter extraction electrode is about 80 mA; the electron current does not exceed 30% of the ion current. Method of positive/negative ion current ratio control is proposed, allowing the ion currents ratio variation in wide range

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Multichannel source of synthesized ion-electron flow

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Cited by 5 publications

References 1 publication

Neutralizer-free gridded ion thruster

Neutralizer-free gridded ion thruster

Coincident ion acceleration and electron extraction for space propulsion using the self-bias formed on a set of RF biased grids bounding a plasma source

A double-plasma source of continuous bipolar ion-ion beam

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