Title :
Plasma characteristics of the ferroelectric plasma thruster
Author :
Hutsel, Brian T. ; Kovaleski, Scott D. ; Kwon, Jae W.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
Abstract :
Summary form only given. The ferroelectric plasma thruster (FEPT) uses ion acceleration from plasma to produce thrust. The FEPT consists of a ferroelectric disk driven through its thickness with an RF signal. Utilizing the piezoelectric resonance of the ferroelectric crystal, a high voltage is induced in an aperture of the ground plane. The plasma is formed in the aperture of the ground plane. The FEPT is capable of generating plasma over a wide range of pressures from 10̂-6 torr to atmospheric pressure. Presented is a study of the generated plasma. Diagnostics include gated images on an ICCD camera, optical emission spectroscopy and charged particle energy measurements.
Keywords :
CCD image sensors; dielectric resonance; ferroelectric materials; ion accelerators; plasma accelerators; plasma diagnostics; plasma pressure; plasma production; ICCD camera; RF signal; charged particle energy measurements; ferroelectric crystal; ferroelectric disk; ferroelectric plasma thruster; gated images; ion acceleration; optical emission spectroscopy; piezoelectric resonance; plasma characteristics; plasma generation; plasma pressure; Plasmas;
Conference_Titel :
Plasma Science (ICOPS), 2011 Abstracts IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Chicago, IL
Print_ISBN :
978-1-61284-330-8
Electronic_ISBN :
0730-9244
DOI :
10.1109/PLASMA.2011.5993298
