Numerical Modeling of Electrodeless Electric Thruster by Ion Cyclotron Resonance/Ponderomotive Acceleration

Otsuka, Fumiko; Hada, Tohru; Shinohara, Shunjiro; Tanikawa, Takao; Matsuoka, Takeshi

doi:10.1585/pfr.8.2406067

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…From these results, we considered that the m = 0 coil acceleration was dominant near the central region of the plasma (around r = 0), and the Ponderomotive force was also important in the outer edge region of the plasma. [17][18][19] …”

Section: = 0 Coil Acceleration Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Density Helicon Plasma Thrusters Using Electrodeless Acceleration Schemes

Kuwahara

Shinohara

Ishii

et al. 2016

AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN

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We have been studying long-lifetime helicon plasma thrusters as the Helicon Electrodeless Advanced Thruster (HEAT) project. Two important elements of the proposed helicon plasma thruster are a generation of a dense source plasma using a helicon wave, and an acceleration of the plasma by the Lorentz force using the product of the induced azimuthal current and static radial magnetic field. Here, in order to eliminate damage of electrodes, both generation and acceleration schemes are operated in non-contact condition between the plasma and electrodes. Acceleration schemes use two type of coils: rotating magnetic field coils and azimuthal mode number m = 0 ones. These studies have been carried out on the Large Mirror Device (LMD), which has two types the magnetic field source, permanent magnets and electromagnets, and the Small Helicon Device (SHD), which has small diameter discharge tubes. In this paper, current performances of acceleration schemes are reported.

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Section: = 0 Coil Acceleration Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Density Helicon Plasma Thrusters Using Electrodeless Acceleration Schemes

Kuwahara

Shinohara

Ishii

et al. 2016

AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN

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“…Three electrodeless plasma thrusters, in which the radio frequency (rf ) electric field penetration is essential, are the Lissajous Helicon Plasma Accelerator (LHPA) Nakamura et al 2012;Nishida et al 2012), the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) (Ando et al 2005(Ando et al , 2006Bering III et al 2010), and the Ponderomotive Acceleration/Ion Cyclotron Resonance (PA/ICR) (Otsuka et al 2013a(Otsuka et al , 2013b. First, the LHPA uses a Lorentz force which is a product of an azimuthal electron current and a radial magnetic field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Third, the ponderomotive acceleration (PA) uses a sign flipping of a ponderomotive potential near ion gyroresonance, leading to a unidirectional acceleration of ions (Dodin et al 2004). We examined the PA combined with the ICR using the test particle simulations (Otsuka et al 2013a(Otsuka et al , 2013b. In our test particle simulations, the rf electromagnetic fields are assumed to be present inside the plasma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Penetration of a radio frequency electromagnetic field into a magnetized plasma: one-dimensional PIC simulation studies

et al. 2015

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Penetration of a radio frequency (rf) electromagnetic field into a magnetized plasma is discussed by performing one-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. We consider two models: an electrostatic (ES) model using an external rf voltage and an electromagnetic (EM) model using an external rf current. The background magnetic field is perpendicular to the one-dimensional system. In the ES model, the external rf voltage across the plasma produces the rf electric field into the plasma. When ω rf = e /2, where ω rf and e are the externally applied field and electron gyrofrequencies, respectively, the ion-rich sheath is formed due to the electron wall loss caused by the electron polarization drift. When ω rf = ω LH /2, where ω LH is the lower hybrid frequency, the electron-rich sheath is formed due to the ion wall loss caused by its larger gyroradius than the electron. In the EM model, an induced electromagnetic field via the external rf current forms a standing wave in the plasma region bounded by the external antennas. When the diameter of the plasma is equal to the wave length, the spatial/temporal profiles of the rf standing waves are well explained by a cold collisionless plasma linear theory except for the existence of the sheath. When the rf magnetic field is increased to 10 % of the background magnetic field, the waveforms become irregular and complex because of the boundary effects.

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“…11) Since the helicon wave plasma is heated by ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) heating and accelerated by a magnetic nozzle in the VASIMR, a large thruster system supplying a strong magnetic field is required for confining the ICR-induced hot plasma with a superconducting magnet. On the other hand, electromagnetically accelerated plasma thrusters with a relatively small system using a helicon plasma have been proposed based on different acceleration schemes, e.g., rotating electric field (REF), [12][13][14] rotating magnetic field, 9) and ponderomotive accelerating 15) type.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reverse plasma motion driven by moderately screened rotating electric field in an electrodeless plasma thruster

Ohnishi

Nakamura

Nishida

2015

Jpn. J. Appl. Phys.

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A reversely-induced azimuthal current has been found in two-dimensional particle simulations with moderately screened rotating electric field (REF) though an ideally penetrating REF drives a “positive” azimuthal current following rotating E × B drifts. This brings us an alternative acceleration concept, called a negative-moving response (NMR) acceleration, of the helicon plasma under practical conditions using a converging magnetic field because the internal electric potential, formed by the plasma response against the external field, drives the “negative” azimuthal current. Under realistic experimental conditions, e.g., a magnetic field of 0.2 T, AC frequency of <100 MHz, and AC voltage of <1000 V, the resultant thrust can be estimated at an observable level of >0.1 mN with the NMR acceleration. Moreover, the reverse REF is more favorable to the NMR acceleration than the conventional forward one because the reverse field produces a Lissajous acceleration in the converging magnetic field.

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Numerical Modeling of Electrodeless Electric Thruster by Ion Cyclotron Resonance/Ponderomotive Acceleration

Cited by 5 publications

References 8 publications

High-Density Helicon Plasma Thrusters Using Electrodeless Acceleration Schemes

High-Density Helicon Plasma Thrusters Using Electrodeless Acceleration Schemes

Penetration of a radio frequency electromagnetic field into a magnetized plasma: one-dimensional PIC simulation studies

Reverse plasma motion driven by moderately screened rotating electric field in an electrodeless plasma thruster

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