• DocumentCode
    7740
  • Title

    A Compact Permanent-Magnet Helicon Thruster

  • Author

    Chen, Francis F.

  • Author_Institution
    Univ. of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • Volume
    43
  • Issue
    1
  • fYear
    2015
  • fDate
    Jan. 2015
  • Firstpage
    195
  • Lastpage
    197
  • Abstract
    A small helicon source using a permanent magnet has been tested for possible application as a spacecraft thruster. Ion energy distributions measured with a retarding-field ion analyzer show that ions are ejected with energies of ~5 KTe, in agreement with theory. The specific impulse can be increased by applying a positive bias to the endplate of the discharge.
  • Keywords
    discharges (electric); helicons; permanent magnets; plasma density; plasma sources; compact permanent magnet helicon thruster; discharge; electron density; helicon source; ion energy distribution; retarding-field ion analyzer; spacecraft thruster; Acceleration; Discharges (electric); Fault location; Plasmas; Radio frequency; Space vehicles; Ambipolar thruster; compact thruster; helicon; helicon thruster; permanent-magnet helicons; permanent-magnet helicons; spacecraft thruster; thrusters; thrusters.;
  • fLanguage
    English
  • Journal_Title
    Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
  • Publisher
    ieee
  • ISSN
    0093-3813
  • Type

    jour

  • DOI
    10.1109/TPS.2014.2361476
  • Filename
    6933879
    • Link To Document
    https://search.isc.ac/dl/search/defaultta.aspx?DTC=49&DC=7740