Modeling the characteristics of an inductively coupled plasma antenna for use in a micro-propulsion system

Author

Shawver, Sonya ; Browning, Jim

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Boise State Univ., Boise, India

fYear

2012

fDate

5-8 Aug. 2012

Firstpage

1040

Lastpage

1043

Abstract

An ion thruster for small satellites is under development. The thruster uses an Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) generated by a flat spiral antenna for the ion source. The antenna is fabricated using the Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (LTCC) materials system. The antenna has been modeled using COMSOL Multiphysics^® simulation software. The antenna operating frequency range (600 MHz to 1 GHz) in LTCC (ε_r=7.8) results in a wavelength on the same order of magnitude as the total length of conductor in the antenna. An analysis of the antenna´s behavior is presented.

Keywords

antennas in plasma; artificial satellites; ion engines; ion sources; plasma devices; plasma simulation; plasma sources; plasma temperature; propulsion; COMSOL Multiphysics® simulation software; antenna behavior analysis; antenna conductor length; antenna operating frequency range; flat spiral antenna; frequency 600 MHz to 1 GHz; inductively coupled plasma antenna characteristics; inductively coupled plasma generation; ion source; ion thruster; low temperature Co-fired ceramic material system; micropropulsion system; Antenna measurements; Antennas; Electric fields; Magnetic field measurement; Plasmas; Radio frequency; Spirals;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Circuits and Systems (MWSCAS), 2012 IEEE 55th International Midwest Symposium on

Conference_Location

Boise, ID

ISSN

1548-3746

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-2526-4

Electronic_ISBN

1548-3746

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MWSCAS.2012.6292201

Filename

6292201