Study of the Plasma Interference With High-Voltage Electrode Array for Space Power Application

Charging of micrometre-sized dust grains in a low temperature and low density plasma produced using a magnetic filter

“…Magnetic filters have also been applied in fusion reactors for neutral beam injectors [10,11], and in ion sources for plasma processing applications [12,13]. During the last couple of decades, a few attempts have been made to develop a laboratory facility for the simulation of LEO plasmas [1][2][3]14]. The results are encouraging, although the vital parameters such as electron temperature and density were on the higher side than encountered under actual ionospheric plasma conditions.…”

Magnetic filter type plasma source for ground-based simulation of low earth orbit environment

“…Simulation of the LEO plasma environment in groundbased vacuum facilities has been performed for many years to study the effects of plasma interactions (e.g. current collection, electrical break-down thresholds, charging, etc) on spacecraft surfaces [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. In most of these studies compromises have been made on the fidelity of the plasma environment formation in regard to plasma composition, plasma density, electron temperature and ram (or streaming) ion energy.…”

“…The plasma density produced by the ECR source was 1.6 × 10 7 cm −3 and electron temperatures were 2.4-3.9 eV at the distances 150-500 mm from the device under test. Iwasa et al [15] studied current-voltage characteristics of high voltage solar array electrodes immersed in a simulated LEO plasma environment. The plasma density and temperature in the experimental region were ∼10 5 cm −3 and 2 eV, respectively.…”

“…Although non-ideal plasma conditions were produced, it is pointed out that the plasma simulation facilities described in [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] have performed their task well, and results from these and other similar studies have guided the development and fabrication of materials and hardware used in space flight applications. Two problems have plagued LEO simulation efforts, however, and they include (1) difficulty in obtaining plasma sources that produce plasmas with adjustable, ultra-low electron temperatures on the order of 0.1 eV and (2) streaming ion populations of ∼5 eV.…”