Spontaneous oscillations in a Hall thruster

Author

Darnon, F. ; Garrigues, L. ; Boeuf, J.P. ; Bouchoule, A. ; Lyszyk, M.

Author_Institution

GREMI, Orleans Univ., France

Volume

27

Issue

1

fYear

1999

fDate

2/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

98

Lastpage

99

Abstract

Low frequency oscillations in a stationary plasma thruster (SPT) have been studied using optical diagnostics and numerical models. The regime of low frequency, large amplitude current oscillations has been especially investigated. The current oscillations are associated with strong oscillations of the light emitted by the plasma in that region. A quasi-neutral hybrid model of the plasma can reproduce these plasma oscillations and suggests that they are due to an ionization instability in the exhaust region associated with the depletion of neutral atoms by electron impact ionization

Keywords

Hall effect devices; current fluctuations; plasma diagnostics; plasma instability; plasma oscillations; Hall thruster; current oscillations; depletion; electron impact ionization; exhaust region; frequency large amplitude current oscillations; ionization instability; low frequency oscillations; neutral atoms; numerical models; optical diagnostics; plasma emission; plasma oscillations; quasi-neutral hybrid model; quasineutral hybrid model; spontaneous oscillations; stationary plasma thruster; Anodes; Conductivity; Electrons; Frequency; Ionization; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic fields; Plasma devices; Plasma diagnostics; Satellites;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/27.763063

Filename

763063