Charged-Particle Emission and Self-Biasing of a Piezoelectric Transformer Plasma Source

Author

Hutsel, Brian T. ; Kovaleski, Scott D. ; Baxter, Emily A. ; Jae Wan Kwon

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

Volume

41

Issue

1

fYear

2013

fDate

Jan. 2013

Firstpage

99

Lastpage

105

Abstract

The piezoelectric transformer (PT) plasma source (PTPS) is a compact radio-frequency-driven plasma source developed for near-space and microspacecraft propulsion. The PTPS utilizes the PT effect to aid in plasma production and acceleration of charged particles to create thrust. Charged-particle emission measured with a Faraday cup and a retarding potential analyzer is presented. Low emitted ion energies are explained by self-bias of the PT output due to charged-particle transfer from the plasma to the PT surface. Finally, self-neutralization of the PTPS was investigated for a PTPS isolated from the vacuum chamber ground.

Keywords

aerospace propulsion; high-frequency discharges; piezoelectric devices; plasma applications; plasma sources; transformers; Faraday cup; PT plasma source; PTPS self neutralization; charged particle acceleration; charged particle emission; compact radiofrequency driven plasma source; microspacecraft propulsion; near space propulsion; piezoelectric transformer plasma source; plasma production; plasma source self biasing; retarding potential analyzer; thrust creation; Apertures; Current measurement; Electric potential; Electrodes; Plasma measurements; Plasmas; Radio frequency; Electron emission; Piezoelectric devices; Plasma sources; ion emission;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TPS.2012.2227819

Filename

6374264